Evolving Stakes
by frobz26
Summary: Sixth year holds some new surprises for the students of Hogwarts with the arrival of Nora Wilson, a transfer student from Canada. Follow Rose, Nora and friends as they discover that your past always has a funny way of catching up with you. Rose/Scorpius
1. The New Girl

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine. He belongs to J.K. Rowling, so please do not sue me since I have no money.

Chapter 1

The New Girl

Being related to Harry Potter had its ups and downs. An up is, that from the day Rose started school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, no one was ever allowed to mess with her for the fear of possibly being beaten to a pulp. A con would have to be that every little thing she did was judged under a microscope. If the gossip section of the Daily Prophet never had at least one article about the Potter-Weasley family or anyone related to them on any given day, then it was a sure sign of the apocalypse.

She was the daughter of the famous Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's two best friends, whose efforts helped to bring Voldemort to his knees.

At the moment Rose was attempting to sleep but failing miserably at it. One of her rare qualities was that she got excited when summer ended and school began. So excited that the idea of sleeping was very much out of the question.

She sighed and flung off her Chudley Cannons bed sheets. Even though she couldn't fly a broomstick to save her life, something she inherited from her mother, she still loved the sport to death. Rose trudged slowly to her desk and sat down in the chair seated in front of it, she stared longingly at the photo of Hogwarts castle with her friends Alice Longbottom, Andrew Locke and David Tennet, along with her cousin Albus Potter and herself laughing in front of it. She'd seen plenty of Al over the summer seeing as he was her cousin but she hadn't seen Alice since the last day of fifth year since Professor Longbottom (her dad), and her mom had gone on some 2 month long safari of Africa.

She sighed angrily as she surveyed the darkness around her. There was nothing left for her to do! Absolutely bloody nothing. She had finished all of her homework, and read all of her interesting schoolbooks days before September 1st, unlike her brother who was probably up right now trying to finish all of his summer homework. He was far too much like her dad; well at least that was what her mother said. She flicked on her light and stared into the mirror on the other side of the room. Rose sighed at her appearance. Sure she wasn't ugly but she wasn't exactly gorgeous either. Her unruly dark red hair was absolutely everywhere, making it resemble a sort of lions mane, and her pale skin only accentuated the dark circles under her eyes. Luckily she had managed to avoid the tall gene from her father and she was a normal 5'6", with decent curves. The only thing Rose truly liked about herself was her eyes, which were a deep navy blue. Alice had always told her she would kill to get her eye colour, as did countless other girls.  
She sighed at how vain she was being but it was finally starting to get to her that she had never actually had much, if any, relationships with the opposite sex. Well except for third year when she had gone to Hogsmeade with Toby Flenderson, a Ravenclaw fourth year at the time and he had given her a very awkward kiss after their date. Or when she was completely smashed during one of Gryffindor's quidditch team celebrations last year and had made out with Darren White, now a Gryffindor seventh year, just because she wanted to prove a point. That one had been far more embarrassing then the date with Toby because she had only done it to show Scorpius bloody Malfoy that she was definitely not a prude, as he had so delicately put it.

Scorpius Malfoy was one of the few things she did not look forward to seeing again at Hogwarts, along with his band of Slytherin idiots and his horrible girlfriend Tatiana Zabini. To be honest Tatiana was probably far more awful then Scorpius Malfoy. As David put it, if anyone needed a model of the definition bitch, all they needed to do was call Zabini. However Zabini's insults never seemed to bother Rose like Malfoy's did. She remembered him giving her that infuriating smug smirk before he had said that it was so like her prudish uptight self not to drink anything at a party celebrating the victory of the quidditch cup to her own house. Well she had sure shown him when she downed a good 6 shots of fire whisky and somehow managed to make out, in front of everyone, with the biggest playboy in Gryffindor. She couldn't help but smile gleefully as she remembered the shocked look on Malfoy's face when she had come up for air from snogging Darren. He hadn't bothered her at all for the rest of the year, leaving that job to that slag of a girlfriend of his. Of course no rumours were ever spread about the incident, because everyone valued their lives, and they all credited it as a moment of insanity on her part. Well at least that was what Alice had named it.  
Unfortunately afterwards Darren White had decided to pay very close attention to her because for some reason he felt that he might be the person to get into the Rose Weasley's pants first. Rose, fortunately, knew better. Darren may be hot and a spectacular kisser, but he had practically slept with every girl he could get his hands on. Even James, who was his friend and also had a bit of a reputation for sleeping around, had said that Darren was a bit of a slimeball.

Rose peered over at her alarm clock. 3:24 AM. She groaned miserably at her geekiness. What self respecting 16 year old girl became excited at the prospect of going back to school and summer being over? Why her of course.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was beyond annoyed as she stared at the two men arguing in front of her. "Mark my words Minerva this girl will bring this school to its knees in a matter of days," he spat in the direction of Neville Longbottom, the young herbology professor, who was very tanned having recently returned from a safari in Africa.

"That is a lie and you know it Carson!" Neville bellowed back at the potions master, "this girl deserves a fresh start and if we don't give it to her then who will?"

Minerva massaged her temple as she stared at the two grown men argue over the future of one very important 16 year old girl. She was far too old to listen to this. "Would you like me to shut them up," Cassandra Monroe asked her in her velvety smooth voice.

"No, no," she replied with a wave of her hand, "I'll do it Cassandra."

"Whether you believe it or not Longbottom this girl, if that's what we are going to call her, is a menace to this institution!"

Neville was about to say something else when Minerva lifted a hand in an obvious order for silence. The two professors stopped talking but eyed each other coldly. Minerva sighed, these two men were so much different from each other it actually scared her. Carson Stone being the head of Slytherin and Neville Longbottom the head of Gryffindor just added to the animosity between the two.

"Now Carson, you know it has already been decided, besides the board of governors believe she has been properly rehabilitated and has full control of her anger. Therefore she will begin school today along with every other student."

Carson's cheeks flared with indignation. "Minerva, this girl does not have full control over her anger, the way she talked to us was with such little respect or regard for the rules."

"I believe that was a show of her rather temperamental personality Carson," Cassandra explained with her hypnotic voice, "she is a naturally sarcastic and afraid to trust people because of what has happened in her past. Something you should have understood from the moment you saw her."

Minerva knew Cassandra was correct about this assumption as she often was but she still raised a hand to signal that she had gone a bit too far and she shot Neville a look that quickly erased his smug smile.

"Yes, thank you Cassandra, but Carson I am sorry to tell you that I have made my decision and you will have to teach her. She will not fall behind, since she is gifted at almost everything, and I have already informed her that I am extending an invitation to her that no one else in the world would ever offer her. She understands that her place here at Hogwarts is not set in stone, therefore I believe she is not a threat to anyone's lives."

Carson exhaled loudly. "Very well Minerva," he replied stiffly and strode out of the room.

"Pompous idiot," Neville muttered once Carson was out of hearing range and Minerva shot him an icy glare.

"As for you Neville, you must keep your feelings towards Carson on a strictly professional level at all times. Even when a student is nowhere near this school."

"Of course Minerva," Neville replied with a frown and he waved to Cassandra as he left the room.

"He means well Minerva," Cassandra said, speaking in his defence, "we all know how hard it is to get along with Carson. I just manage to have the edge because Carson's afraid I will use my position in the Auror Department to arrest him and chuck him into Azkaban."

"Yes well, I appreciate your patience, but I do believe we have to get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Agreed," Cassandra laughed, her startling violet eyes flashing as she chuckled. "We may have to make sure our new edition doesn't terrify all the first years." Minerva groaned at the thought, yes, she was far too old for this.

* * *

Rose woke with a start, when she heard banging on the wall connecting her room with her brothers. She lifted her head off of her desk and peered around in confusion. As soon as she realised she had fallen asleep at her desk last night and had somehow slept through her alarm, she sprang up from her seat and dashed madly around her room collecting articles of clothing to throw on. She knew she would be changing in a few hours so there was no point in picking out some sort of amazing outfit. She was definitely not trying to impress anyone. She pulled on a purple T-shirt, threw on a pair of black sweat pants, and pulled her unruly hair back into a bun, as always.

There was more banging on her wall and she heard Hugo's muffled voice threw the wall telling her to wake the bloody hell up already. "I'm awake Hugo," she bellowed back through the wall. She threw everything she could find that hadn't yet been packed in her trunk and closed it with a snap. Suddenly someone began to bang on her door.

"Rose Weasley! What in Merlin's name is taking you so long?" her father shouted through the door.

Rose rolled her eyes. "I slept in dad! You can come in!" She saw her door cautiously creak open as if her dad was afraid she was going to start screaming at him if he actually stepped in the room. When her door was finally fully open she saw her dad staring at her blearily, his hair sticking out in ways that could rival Uncle Harry's, obviously suggesting he had just woken up as well. With a quick flick of his wand her trunk levitated off the ground and sailed through her door after him as he walked down the stairs, yawning as he went. Rose sighed, "good morning to you to dad." She grabbed her purse, dabbed on a bit of concealer to try and hide the dark circles under her eyes, and then walked out her front door.

* * *

King's Cross was utterly insane as usual. This didn't help the fact that her mother seemed to be in a foul mood this morning. "There are always so many people here," she muttered stormily, "Why couldn't the wizarding world insure that it wasn't so busy all the time?" Rose just pushed her trolley along with her things on it, pretending to not hear her and Hugo stared at their mom as if she were the weirdest person ever. Her dad was too busy looking around to see if he could see anyone he knew to notice his wife's mutterings. Half the time Rose suspected her dad was so used to it that he probably found it attractive or something.

Once they reached the barrier Rose's mom gestured for Hugo to go through, which he happily obliged to. Once Hugo was through, her dad walked nonchalantly through the wall and her mom gestured for her to go through as well. Rose pushed her cart forward and like she did every year, she closed her eyes, as she ran at the wall. Sure most people got used to doing it but to her it was still running at a wall, so closing her eyes seemed to be the best idea she could think of.

Once through the barrier, Rose peered around her to see her family all gathered in one general area, as other people gawked at them as if they were gold plated statues. Rose pushed her trolley towards them and Lily was the first to notice her. Rose was jealous of Lily. She was only 14 and everyone could tell she was going to be supermodel gorgeous when she got older. She was tall (already an inch taller than Rose), skinny but not to the point where she looked sickly, had long flaming red hair and warm chocolate brown eyes. Not to mention that her innocent smile could get her out of any trouble.

"Hi Rose, Aunt Hermione!" Lily shouted as she waved her hand for them to come over. Rose hadn't realised her mother was behind her and physically jumped when her mother popped up at her side. Once her mom and her had joined the circle Rose surveyed her enormous family with a smile. Pretty much all the Weasley-Potter kids were at Hogwarts now. With the exception of Victoire and Dominique, and by non blood relation, Teddy. Her family was like having your own personal army. The current family joke was that in about 100 years if you weren't related to anyone from the Weasley family then there was obviously something wrong with you.

Right now, James and Fred were the oldest since they were both 7th years. Al and her were 6th years. Louis and Roxy were 5th years. Hugo, Molly and Lily were 4th years and little Lucy was a 2nd year.  
"Hello Rosie," Uncle Harry grinned, "you guys are late as usual."

"We could not help it Harry. Everyone in the family always feels the need to sleep in until we only have 10 minutes left to get ready," my mom replied grumpily. Rose couldn't help but think that her mom could have just taken part with the rest of the family and slept in, she obviously needed it.

"Don't worry about it Hermione," her Uncle George said, clapping her mom on the back, "you're here right on time, the sun's shining, your kids are leaving and no one has asked Harry for his autograph yet." The family broke out into laughter at this statement and her mom could not help but smile.

* * *

Once the entire family had got onto the train and said countless goodbyes, along with promises of writing every week, the train was off with a familiar blaring whistle and loud chugging sounds. Rose smiled happily, a skip in her step; she was finally on her way back to Hogwarts. "Hey Rose," Al called to her, "David said he'd save us all a compartment so let's get going to the prefect meeting so we can see everyone."

Al and her were Gryffindors two 6th year prefects. She knew Louis was the new 5th year prefect for Gryffindor but she wanted to see all the new prefects and who made Head Boy and Girl. Upon reaching the prefect compartment they sat down with the other Gryffindors including Louis who seemed happy that they had finally shown up since the other 5th year prefect for Gryffindor had turned out to be Tessa Bletchly, one of the most obnoxious girls Rose had ever met.

At that moment Scorpius Malfoy, his pale blonde head held high with his trademark bored expression plastered on his face, walked in followed by Tatiana who was looking as slutty as ever. His eyes fell on Rose and she scowled at him. His response was a quick turn of his head and his bored expression never once faltering. Tatiana, however, practically snarled at her as she went over with Scorpius to sit with all the Slytherin's in the room.

"Those two deserve each other," Al muttered to her and she nodded her head.

The prefect compartment door opened to reveal the Head Boy and Girl. There striding through the door way was Shasta Kincaid, a 7th year Ravenclaw who never failed to look absolutely stunning and Rufus Hallows, a 7th year Gryffindor who was probably more serious about school and life in general then anyone had ever been. "No surprises there," Al whispered in her ear and she chuckled. Rose noticed a Hufflepuff 5th year staring at them and when she saw Rose looking in her direction she blushed and quickly turned her head.

Girls loved looking at Al. Not only because he could be his dad's exact duplicate, only younger, but also because his personality was nothing like his brothers. James was fun loving, one of the least serious people you could ever find and he had quite a reputation with girls. Not to mention he never knew when to shut up. Al was much different. He was serious about his work, respectful of others, generally a quiet person and an all around nice guy. For this he had been labelled as the 'mysterious, brooding type' and probably one of the most sought after guys in all of Hogwarts. Any girl wanted to say that she was the first person to 'do' Albus Potter, but Al was never interested.

Rose was snapped from her thoughts when Rufus cleared his throat loudly. "Hello prefects," he said gruffly, "hope you all had a good break but let's get down to business. Being a prefect is no laughing matter. It's a very serious position and you must uphold the school rules no matter what happens. If you notice anything slightly out of order at any time of the day, as prefects you must investigate. It is a perilous job, frought with danger, but I am confident that all of you can look after yourselves."

Everyone stared at Rufus like they were waiting for him to say 'just kidding' and Shasta rolled her eyes in exasperation. "What Rufus is trying to say is that you all have a responsibility to be role models for younger students and must try your best at your new role at Hogwarts."

Basically the meeting went on with Rufus acting intense one minute and then Shasta saying the more keyed down version of what he was saying to reassure the 5th years they weren't being evaluated daily based on effort.

Once Shasta had ended the meeting, because Rufus would have gone on for the rest of the train ride, Al and Rose picked up their things and said bye to Louis who obviously wanted to go see his friends.

"Well that was fun," Rose said with a laugh.

"Luckily Shasta's Head Girl, otherwise no one is ever going to shut him up."

"Too true Potter, I wonder if she works on you and Weasley," Tatiana sneered, her cold voice ringing out behind them. Rose shot Al an exasperated look and turned to see Tatiana standing behind them, Scorpius by her side along with all the other Slytherin prefects.

"Oh put a sock in it Zabini, nobody wants to hear your voice this early in the day - or ever for that fact," Rose shot back.

"Nasty little mouth you've got their Weasley, but we all know how not innocent it seems to be these days," Tatiana said with a rather unattractive sneer. The Slytherin's laughed loudly while Scorpius looked as uninterested as ever. Rose glared angrily at them.

"Merlin only knows where your mouth's been Zabini," Al commented frostily and Tatiana's eyes widened with rage. "Let's go Rose," Al said as he swept past the Slytherin's. Rose picked up her bag and followed Al through the pack of jeering Slytherin's and past Scorpius Malfoy's emotionless face.

* * *

"They're all a bunch of gits Rose, so don't worry about what Zabini said. Everyone knows you wouldn't ever snog Darren White if you were sober," Alice said soothingly. Rose smiled at her; she was so glad to see Alice again. Her usual pale face was now very tanned and her long straight blonde hair was halfway down her back, much longer then it had ever been. She also seemed to have lost a bit of weight off of her petite body.

"Ya just forget the Slytherin's Rosie and come play me at chess once I beat Al here since he's bloody awful," Andy said cheekily as he winked one of his hazel eyes in her direction. Andy was a giant flirt and everyone knew it.

"Before you guys go into intense nerd mode," David teased as he ran a hand through his dark brown hair and tried to make room for his long legs, which was nearly impossible since he was pushing 6'4".

"I've got something top secret to tell you." David's dad was some high up ministry official who was on the Hogwarts board of governors, who sometimes let slip top secret info to his son when he was intoxicated, which David then told them.

"Okay David, what is it now," Alice asked impatiently, "Are they sacking Stone again, because you told us that last year and got all of our hopes up."

David shot her a look. "No they're not sacking Stone, even though I've mentioned it. We're actually getting a new student."

Everyone in the room gave him sarcastic looks. "Hate to break it to you David," Al stated cynically, "but we always get new students every year, but they're usually plural."

"Ya, we like to call them first years," Andy added with a large grin. Alice and Rose laughed loudly as David frowned in annoyance.

"I know that you idiots," David snapped, "I mean someone who's older. I think they're some kind of transfer student or something."

"Hogwarts has never had a transfer student before David," Rose said, not really believing David's story.

"Hey don't shoot the messenger. All I know is that it's a really big deal and this person is really important to a lot of people."

"Well we'll see if it's true at the feast tonight, because I believe that person will have to be sorted into a house along with all of the other first years," Alice replied.

"To true Alice my dear," Andy said with a flourish of a hand, "now Rosie darling come here so I can at least have a challenge, since Al here is pathetic." Al's response to Andy's insult was to throw his queen at Andy's head, much to everyone's amusement. Yes, it was definitely good to be back.

* * *

As the Hogwarts Express came closer to its destination, Rose and her friends quickly threw on their robes. Once the train had stopped in Hogsmeade station, the five of them filed out of the train and raced to grab a carriage before they all filled up with students. Rose remembered being told by her dad that Thestrals were the invisible beasts that were pulling the carriages and could only be seen by someone who had seen death. Rose shivered at the thought, knowing that both her parents could see them along with pretty much everyone else who had fought during the last war. When they had all piled into one carriage, which took some effort because David's legs seemed to be everywhere, the carriage gave a lurch and began moving forward at a steady pace.

Rose could barely put into words how much she loved Hogwarts. It was, in simple words, her home away from home. She found that even after close to 6 years of seeing this place over and over, she never grew tired of walking through the old hallways or peering around at all the different nooks and crannies that could be found in so many places across the school. Something she had not inherited from her parents was the fact that her thirst for knowledge sometimes led to her stealing James' invisibility cloak, and Al's Marauder's map just so she could walk around the school late at night without getting caught. Something neither of her parents had ever done, since her dad could care less about the random empty hallways and her mom would only sneak out at night if it meant saving the world in some way. Either way she couldn't wait to get back to exploring, even though her friends thought she was mad for doing it.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop in front of the castles main entrance and everyone in Rose's carriage clambered out, following the horde of students who were making their way through the giant archway. Several of the school ghosts were swooping around above everyone's heads greeting all of the students and asking them how their summer's had been. She looked behind her to see David peering around him as if he were looking for someone.

"What are you doing David?"

"Looking for anyone I've never seen before. I know my dad wasn't overly drunk when he told me, so it has to be true."

"For all we know it could be a second year," Al commented, "so stop gawking around like an idiot, people are giving you weird looks."

David noticed this and blushed. The group of friends filed into the Great Hall along with everyone else to see James waving to them from the end of the table closest to the teachers. These were the best seats in the house when it came to watching the sorting so someone in the family always made sure to save a bunch of seats for everyone. Rose and her friends settled in with James, Fred, Fred's girlfriends Amanda Summers and much to Rose's embarrassment Darren White. Of course Roxy, Louis, Hugo, Lily, and Molly were there with their friends as well, making this one end of the table basically for the Weasley family and friends.

"Told you I'd save the end of the table Al," James said to his brother.

"James if you haven't noticed, half our family and their friends take up the end of the table, so it really isn't that hard of a job." James just scowled at his brother, as everyone else laughed. Once everyone had settled into the Great Hall Professor McGonagall, their ancient headmistress, raised her hands for silence and the room quickly quieted down. On that note the doors to the Great Hall opened and in walked Professor Monroe, her long black hair down and her purple silk robes flowing dreamily as she walked, followed by a crowd of very nervous looking first years.

"Oi Darren," James whispered to his friend, "is it just me or does Monroe get better looking every year." Darren just shot him a suggestive grin and winked at Rose when he noticed her watching them. Rose scowled; he obviously still believed he had a far better chance of getting in her pants than any other bloke in the school.

Monroe walked past Rose and her group of friends and stopped in front of the stool that the sorting hat was resting on. Everyone watched as all of the first years gathered around in front of the hat, all staring at the hat as if it were going to jump at them and claw their faces to shreds. The hall quieted once they heard the hat clear its throat and it began to sing a song as it did every year. As usual the song detailed the different traits of the people in each house and for all the first years to enjoy their stay at Hogwarts. When it finished, with loud applause from the people in the room, Monroe walked forward with a long list of names and lifted the hat.

"Now remember guys," Lily whispered a few seats down, "Lorcan and Lysander Scamander are being sorted this year." Rose had almost forgotten. Luna was a close friend of her parents and her aunts and uncles. She had ended up married Newton Scamanders grandson Rolf, and it seemed that their kids were finally attending school.

"Ashworth, Blair," Monroe called out in her musical voice and a small girl with blonde pig tails bounced up to the stool. Monroe dropped the hat on her head and a few seconds later the hat called out Ravenclaw and the girl bounced off to a seat at that table.

"Baxter, Melody."

_Gryffindor!_ Everyone around Rose erupted into cheers.

"Bilson, Roger."

_Hufflepuff!  
_  
"Carrington, William."

_Hufflepuff!  
_  
"Cilvina, Anya."

_Slytherin!_

And so the names went on and Gryffindor acquired a few more happy young first years, until Monroe finally reached the Scamander twins who seemed to be jumping up and down with excitement.

"Scamander, Lorcan." Lorcan's blonde head snapped up and he practically ran to the hat so he could stuff it on his head. The hat took a few seconds to announce, "_Ravenclaw!_" Lorcan took the hat off his head himself and handed it to Monroe, while giving his brother a thumbs up.

"Scamander, Lysander." Lysander who seemed much calmer then his brother strode up to the stool and it was dropped on his head. The hat took a lot longer to decide where this twin should go and to everyone's surprise it announced, "_Gryffindor!_" Everyone at the table cheered happily and a wide smile stretched across Lysander's face as he walked to his seat at the Gryffindor table. The sorting continued until the last kid, Omarion Zaro, was sorted into Hufflepuff.

"I swore my dad wasn't actually making this up guys," David protested loudly as Alice just shook her head in disappointment. The noise level in the room was rising but it seemed as if Professor McGonagall was in no hurry to begin the feast since she was in a heated conversation with Professor Longbottom, Gale, Monroe, and Stone over something Rose could not hear. Stone as usual seemed to be complaining about something, while Professor Longbottom was giving him dirty looks. Professor Gale, an old wiry man who taught Transfiguration and was head of Hufflepuff house, was merrily nodding his head at whatever Professor McGonagall was saying. Professor Monroe as usual was silent as she surveyed her colleagues with interest.

"Why aren't they starting the feast?" Alice asked her also noticing that the head professors were deep in conversation. Rose shrugged as more and more people began to notice that their lack of food had to do with what ever the professors were arguing over.

"We did have to come back a bit early from safari because of something important happening at the school," Alice whispered to her.

"Maybe David's right," Rose commented.

McGonagall lifted an arm and gestured for someone to leave and Professor Monroe began to walk down the aisle between tables towards the doors to the Great Hall. Everyone in the room all craned their heads to watch her as she swept swiftly past them and through the doors into the hallway outside.

"What the hell is going on?" James asked impatiently. "I'm starving here."

Rose peered up at the head table to see all the professors had made their ways back to their seats and that Professor Longbottom wore a satisfied look on his face while Stone seemed absolutely furious. McGonagall seemed to be absolutely exhausted.

"Whatever is going on seems to be making the professor's rather irritable," Rose said to everyone around her.

At that moment the Great Hall doors flung open with a loud crack and the room let out yelps of surprise. Everyone turned their heads to see Professor Monroe, but she was not alone. Standing beside Professor Monroe was a teenage girl who, for some unknown reason, was glowing. The girl began to walk away from Monroe, walking down the aisle without her. As she got closer Rose was able to get a better look at her. She was rather tall, had long wavy light brown hair, golden brown eyes and full red lips that seemed to be in a permanent frown. Her skin was slightly tanned and her uniform seemed to have been altered considerably. The normally knee length skirts were half way up her thighs, her oxford blouse was halfway undone revealing a black tank top beneath it. Over her blouse she wore a long grey camisole, that remained open, and she wore tall 3 inch black pumps that clicked loudly as she walked on the stone floor. But the one thing that seemed to stand out about her was the fact that she seemed to be glowing.

"I told you guys," David whispered triumphantly, "new transfer student."

"Ya but where the hell did she transfer from?" Andy asked.

"Has anyone noticed she's sort of glowing?" Alice said in a voice that sounded as if she thought she was seeing things. Everyone around her nodded as they watched the girl walk towards them. As she walked by her head turned slightly to look at them and a small smirk spread across her face before she turned her attention back to the head table.

"Slytherin for sure," Rose muttered to Alice and she nodded her head vigorously in agreement. No one seemed to notice that Monroe was following after the girl, the list of names still in her hand. Once Monroe had caught up to the girl she gestured for the girl to sit on the stool, which she did. As soon as she sat down McGonagall stood up and raised her hands for silence from the thoroughly confused room.

"Students," McGonagall addressed loudly, "this year Hogwarts is taking in a transfer student for the very first time. I would like you all to meet Nora Wilson."

Everyone murmured hello half-heartedly as they all peered at her in confusion as she continued to glow. Nora's frown turned into a smile and Rose got the distinct feeling that this wasn't just any transfer student.

"Ms. Wilson will be joining the sixth year classes and whichever house she is sorted into by the sorting hat. Professor Monroe you may place the hat on Ms. Wilson's head."

Monroe nodded and placed the hat on her head. Everyone waited with bated breath for the hat to say something but it didn't. A minute passed, two minutes, four minutes, eight minutes, still the hat did not utter a word. People were starting to get antsy and James was moaning about how he was starving and the hat needed to get on with it before he just sorted her himself.

As if on cue Nora stood up, sorting hat still on her head, and turned to Monroe. "It doesn't know where to put me," she stated simply with a distinct North American accent. Everyone gawked at her.

"Did it tell you this?" Monroe asked.

"Ya." Rose stared at her in complete astonishment. The girl barely seemed bothered by what was happening; Rose even thought she looked kind of bored.

"Did it tell you anything else?" Monroe asked.

"It said I'd do equally as well in Ravenclaw, Slytherin or Gryffindor. It thinks I'd just scare all the Hufflepuff's to death though." The Slytherin's who heard her comment snickered and all the Hufflepuff's shot Nora angry looks of disdain. Wow, she had only been here for 15 minutes and already the Hufflepuff's hated her.

"Anything else?" Monroe asked impatiently.

Nora's bored expression turned gleeful. "It thinks that I should pick my own house." The room erupted with boo's and Professor Stone looked about ready to throw his chair at her. She just continued to smile.  
"Well I believe you should choose then Ms. Wilson," Monroe said loudly over the angry voices of the students in the room.

"Yes but where should I go?" James groaned loudly at her question and Nora's face snapped in the direction of the Gryffindor table. Everyone at the table gaped at her. Somehow she had managed to appear a bit more flawless then before and many of the guys sitting near Rose had their mouths hanging open, especially James who seemed to have completely forgotten about his stomach. Only Al seemed to be unaffected by Nora's charms which she seemed to notice when she stared directly at him.

"Hmm," Nora muttered as she began to pace back and forth, "what should I choose? I could go to Gryffindor where they travel the thin line between bravery and stupidity more often than most sane people." Everyone at the Gryffindor table did a double take at her comment and furrowed their brows. "Maybe Ravenclaw, where the smart but socially retarded and emotionally strained dwell." The Ravenclaw's blinked as they took offence to her statement. "Or Slytherin, where the cunning and the biggest sons of bitches reside." The Slytherin's practically hissed at her declaration and Rose noticed Scorpius' usual bored expression was shattered at how blunt Nora Wilson was being. "Wow, it's such a hard decision."

"Ms. Wilson," McGonagall said in a warning voice.

"Sorry Professor," she replied with a bright smile, "just discussing my options."

"Would you please hurry up then, we need to start the feast."

"Of course. I've narrowed it down to Slytherin and Gryffindor." Rose noticed all the Ravenclaw's sigh with relief. "Alright hat, you choose one."

"Why is she having a conversation with the hat?" Louis said as he raised an eyebrow.

There was silence before Nora began to speak again. "There's no need to be embarrassed hat, I'm a very complex individual." More silence. "Yes I am quite ingenious but that Carson guy really hates me after I made fun of him the first time I met him."

She had made fun of Stone and gotten away with it? Rose was having trouble grasping the situation at hand. No one was answering the question of who the hell this girl was.

Once again, more silence. "Oh you sensed that did you. I guess I'd like to go there because there is an individual that interests me." With that statement a seam in the hat opened and what came out of its mouth next made everyone's mouths drop in astonishment.

_"Gryffindor!"_

* * *

a/n- Hello everyone. First chapter of my first story is up for the public to see. Not much to comment on right now since we've just begun but I've decided to give Nora quite the entrace since she is going to be quite the girl. Anyway, most of my chapters are most likely never going to be as long as this one. Please read and review and such. I totally appreciate any feedback since I live off of it. Toodles.


	2. Playing With Fire

Chapter 2- Playing With Fire

"Has anyone noticed how whenever she wants something it floats down to her?" David asked.

"Ya she just stole my role," Fred muttered and Amanda chuckled beside him.

Nora Wilson was currently sitting on the end of the Gryffindor table closest to the professors, with a lot of space around her, since the first years were so scared of her they were willing to squash together to get away from her. The glow around her had slowly died down when the feast had begun and now she seemed more like a normal girl. Except for the fact that she was reading a book titled '_Dark_ _Magic and its Origins',_ and every time she seemed to want something it floated down to her without even a flick of her hand. One thing the entire student body seemed to notice was how at least one professor sitting at the staff table would always be nervously watching her, as if waiting for her to blow something up.

"She doesn't have a wand," Al said quietly beside Rose. Rose didn't know whether he was talking to her or to someone else, so she decided to find out what the hell he was talking about.

"What?"

"She doesn't have a wand. She's doing all this magic without a wand, since she definitely didn't have one on her when she came in." Rose peered over at Nora who seemed to have a broad smile on her face. A chill ran down Rose's spine. Had she just heard what Al had said?

"Rose, we have to sleep in the same room as her," Alice said frantically, "and we thought the Grenning twins were bad. This girl looks mental enough to kill us in our sleep and not feel bad afterwards."

Rose rolled her eyes. Alice was far too dramatic for her own good. "She's not going to kill us Alice. It's obvious she's just rather full of herself." Rose didn't notice the frown that had spread across Nora's face after her comment about her.

'Whether she's full of herself or not," James said with food in his mouth, "she's got bloody nice legs."

"Amen to that," Darren said suggestively.

"Wonder who she's interested in?" Lily asked.

"What?" James asked in confusion. Crumbs flew all over the table from what he was chewing and Rose's lip curled in disgust.

Lily sighed. "The hat only put her in Gryffindor because she said she was interested in a person in Gryffindor. Rose frowned at this, Lily was right, Nora had said that. Did Nora know a lot about her family? Was that why she found Gryffindor more interesting than all the other houses? She had so many questions and so few answers, which only made her even more curious.

After the feast had finished and Rose had directed all of the first years to where the Gryffindor dormitories were she couldn't help but rush up to her room and throw herself onto her bed. Alice followed after her and Rose noticed her staring at the new be in the centre of the room. The Grenning twins, Sharon and Sarah, were already in the dorm and were talking rapidly between each other and stopped only to check and see if Alice was Nora entering the room.

"I wonder where Miss. Glowstick is." Alice muttered as she sat down on her bed next to Rose's.

"Probably off burning a building down," Sarah said from across the room, her beady eyes blinking frantically. That was one of the things Rose found so terribly annoying about those two. Their eyes never seemed to stop blinking. Not to mention their pointed noses being so high in the air made them resemble two rats looking for some rubbish to eat.

"Why would she be burning down a building?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"I heard she's a pyromaniac," Sharon added.

"From who? She's only been here a couple of hours and she hasn't talk to anyone but the professors and the sorting hat," Rose questioned not buying Sarah and Sharon's story.

"You'll see," Sarah said and Sharon nodded vigorously next to her before they turned back to what they were doing.

"Brilliant," Alice muttered sarcastically, "we're all going to be burnt to death by the new mental exchange student."

"You do know that they're lying?"

"Yes," Alice sniffed, a blush appearing on her face.

"Well at least we know why you had to come back early. Your dad had to come and discuss whether or not to let her in here," Rose commented.

"Yes well, I'm going to go take a shower. I feel like I'm covered in dirt." Alice then got up and walked towards the loo. Rose shook her head at how gullible her friend was. She pulled the curtains around her bed and quickly changed into her pyjamas. She pulled her sheets out and snuggled into them, quite happy to be back.

* * *

Rose awoke with a start when she heard a crashing sound coming from the common room below. She groaned. Why the bloody hell was she such a light sleeper? She opened the curtains around her bed to see that the clock read 2:43 AM. What prat was up at 2:43 in the bloody morning? Rose climbed out of her sheets and grabbed a jumper from her trunk to cover the tank top and shorts she wore to bed, knowing that a thousand year old Scottish castles were not renowned for their central heating systems. She surveyed her surroundings sleepily, only to grunt in surprise upon seeing Nora Wilson's bed was exactly the same way it was when Rose had fallen asleep hours ago.

Rose was too tired to care that she may be leaving her room to see if the possible pyro was awake and breaking things in the common room, so she quietly shuffled out of her dorm room and descended the stairs into the Gryffindor common room. Once in the common room, her eyes adjusted to the darkness to see Nora Wilson sitting on the arm of one of red couches surrounding the fire. What Nora was doing was the thing that made Rose wake up. Nora was currently throwing a ball up and catching it effortlessly.

It was also on fire.

Brilliant, the idiot twins had been right. She was a pyro.

Nora suddenly snorted loudly and turned to look at Rose; her golden eyes glowing in the light of the flame dancing on her palm. "Did I wake you?" she asked cooly in her thick North American accent.

"Yes," Rose said in a fake composed voice as she watched Nora throw the ball of flame up into the air and then catch it.

"Mhmm," she murmured distractedly and she began to toss the fire ball back in forth between her two hands.

Rose stared at her, not quite sure what to say. "You do know you're supposed to sleep upstairs in the dormitories."

Nora just turned and looked at her. One of her perfectly manicured eyebrows arched up in a questioning manner. "Do I look like I've been sleeping much?" she asked sarcastically.

"Um... no."

"Very good," Nora said scathingly and Rose flinched at her tone. Nora seemed to notice that she had been a bit harsh and her hard expression softened slightly. "Sorry about waking you up but I needed to vent a little," she said pointing to a lamp next to her. Rose assumed that the lamp had once been broken and Nora had just repaired it. "It's been a long day," Nora said with an unhappy sigh.

"It's fine." There was silence as Rose continued to stare at Nora, who was now clutching the ball of flame tightly in her hand. How the hell was she doing that? Was it an illusion? Dark magic? Or was she still asleep and dreaming all of this?

"Just ask the question?" Nora said suddenly.

"What?" Rose asked in surprise.

"Ask me how I'm doing this." Rose noticed a challenging note in Nora's voice, as if she was just waiting for Rose to say why would I do that, I already know that you're a freak. It was at that moment that Rose knew that there was something wrong with Nora and it had nothing to do with being making things float without or holding fire in her hands.

"Er- how are you doing that?"

"Advanced magic," Nora said with a wide smile. Lovely, she wasn't going to tell her.

"That really narrows it down," Rose muttered sarcastically and Nora let out a laugh.

"Good one Weasley. Glad to see you're finally waking up a bit."

Rose looked at her in astonishment. "How did you-?"

"How did I know your last name was Weasley? Come on Rose, we Canadians are very aware of what Harry Potter has been up to all his life. We do have to learn about it and I'm always doing a little extra research. In fact its many Canadian kid's dreams to one day meet Harry Potter and a lot of teenage girls aspire to one day get it your cousin James pants."

Rose was slightly revolted at the thought of any girl wanting to get in James pants without fully meeting him but she had learned that Nora was Canadian, which was a step in the right direction.

"You can sit down you know," Nora offered, "I don't bite."

Rose decided that standing around like an idiot was really not a proper use of her time so she took Nora's offer and sat in one of the large red chairs near the fire. Rose looked over at Nora, who was now staring intently into the flame that was flickering on her hand. Rose watched with rapt attention as the ball of flame transformed into a small tiger that began to pace around the palm of Nora's hand.

"So why Gryffindor?" Rose asked in a distracted voice.

"Hmm?" Nora muttered, turning her head towards Rose and the tiger made of fire turned back into a regular ball of flame.

"Why did you want to be here, even after you said that we walk along the line between bravery and stupidity? You made it sound like we're a bunch of nutters."

Nora once again let out a loud laugh. "Weasley you're rather quick to the point huh? I am as well," Nora said, her tone of voice changing from joking to serious. "I also don't like to tell lies unless I have to and what I said about your house, and I guess mine, are very true."

Rose blinked in surprise. What Nora had said was very true. Especially when applied to James, who often thought much less before doing things that should be thoroughly thought over in advance. Like when he called Professor Monroe the sexiest 30 plus person he had ever seen his life. To her face. "But why would you pick Gryffindor knowing that?"

"Well there are a couple reasons," Nora began to explain. "One, I have the whole bravery and stupidity thing down to a tee. I just happen to be able to get away with it. Two, if I had gone into Slytherin I probably would have killed one of those stuck-up snobs by the end of the week, and three, I believe you have noticed my charm?"

Rose's face screwed up in confusion. "Charm?"

"You guys all call it 'glowing'," Nora said, using air quotes.

"Oh."

"Yes the glowing thing or, as it should be called, my aura is where my charm comes from. I happen to have enough of it that people can see it when I need them to."

"So... you can charm people?" Rose inquired, not completely understanding what was being explained to her.

"Yes."

"Isn't that sort of unethical?"

"Yes, but why not use it if you can," Nora said honestly.

"I've never heard of anyone doing what you did with your –uh – aura?" Rose said, trying to recall a lesson in History of Magic that covered what Nora could do.

Darkness crossed over Nora's face. "That's because I'm the only one who has ever been able to use it."

Rose knew that look was a sign not to press the subject any further, so she returned to her original question. "So how does your 'charm' have anything to do with what house you chose to be in?"

The dark expression on Nora's face quickly vanished when Rose changed the subject of the conversation. "You noticed how my charm has a much stronger effect on guys."

"Oh ya."

Nora smiled at her comment and continued. "Well someone in your house wasn't even the slightest bit affected by my charm and he was definitely male."

"Oh."

"So that is why I wanted to come into this house. Because if anyone could resist the temptation that is me, then they are worth getting to know better."

"That's very odd."

"Yes, well, I can't help that sometimes," Nora replied, her brow furrowed, "but I've decided I should get some sleep and so should you."

"Good idea," Rose said and stood up from her seat. Nora stood up as well and threw her ball of fire into the fireplace.

"I must warn you," she said as she wiped her hands off on her shirt, leaving dark soot marks, "I have a much different way of waking up every morning. You have noticed how I like to make grand entrances."

"Sure," Rose said warily.

"I'm not going to kill anyone silly. It's just that everyone is going to be woken up tomorrow by the same alarm. Look at it this way, tomorrow no one should be late for classes save those tiny little first years who have no idea where they're going."

"Whatever you say Wilson," Rose grumbled as she began to walk up the stairs to her dorm room. Nora just chuckled behind her.

* * *

A/N- So this chapter is much shorter then the first one and we only learn that Nora is definitely a very special individual with a few secrets. Please read and review. Thanks :)


	3. Suspicions

Chapter 3- Suspicions

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine so please do not sue me

* * *

Rose was awoken by a very loud thumping noise that was rattling the ground beneath her bed. She groaned as she lifted her head from her pillow. Upon closer investigation, Rose realised the thumping noise was actually base from very loud music, which seemed to be magically filtering around the room. Rose pulled back the curtains of her bed to see everyone groaning tiredly and Nora running around the room in her school skirt and an electric green bra. Rose grumbled in annoyance. Well at least she wasn't shy.

"What the hell is going on?" Alice mumbled sleepily in the bed next to Rose.

Rose grabbed her pillow and pulled it over her head. So this is what Nora had meant by a different way of getting up.

After ten minutes the music still hadn't stopped and Nora seemed to no longer be in the room. The Grenning twins were moaning loudly about how Nora was insane for putting the music on so loud that it woke them all up and Rose shot them both irritated looks as she rolled out of bed. She stared at her clock and gave a look of disgust when she saw that Nora had woken them up about a half hour early. It took Rose about twenty minutes to get dressed and pull Alice out of bed, which she loudly protested. The music continued on loudly and by the sound of the lyrics, it was muggle.

As both girls wearily walked out of their dorm room they were surprised to hear that the music was playing outside their dorm and in the common room, which was now full of thoroughly disgruntled looked people who were searching around aimlessly for an off switch. Rose and Alice walked past them all, out the portrait hall and into the hallway, only to be more surprised to hear that the music was playing in the hall as well. It was at that moment that Rose realised that Nora has somehow managed to wire the entire school to hear any song she wished. How devilishly clever.

As they entered the Great Hall Rose noticed several other groggy people trying to figure out how to turn off the music and Nora, munching contentedly on a piece of toast while reading a book. She must have a death wish because waking up the entire school like this was not a smart idea for anyone. Even someone who could hold fire in their hands and not get burned.

"Do you know who's doing this Rose?" Alice grumbled as she sat down at the Gryffindor table. Rose jerked her head in Nora's direction and Alice scowled bitterly. "What she's doing is cruel and unusual."

Both girls were surprised when Nora let out a loud laugh after what Alice had said. The two girls looked at each other pointedly and began to eat their breakfast.

"Hey guys," someone mumbled behind them. Rose turned to see David's lanky form slide into the seat next to her as Al and Andy sit down across from them.

"You guys look well-rested," Rose said sarcastically and they all glowered at her.

"We were all woken up by that bloody music," Andy whined, "we tried to turn it off, but that just ended with David blasting a hole in the ceiling in frustration and Al having to repair it before Rufus ran in and tried to expel us for defacing school property."

"Well if you want to get mad at someone," Alice offered, "why not go for Nora Wilson? She's the one who set it off so that the entire school woke up at the same time.

"She did this?" Andy asked in astonishment and Alice nodded her head. "That girl is evil – pure evil." Andy muttered glumly as he stared in Nora's direction. Nora didn't seem to notice since she was completely absorbed in her book.

She seems a lot older than us," Al said in a distant voice. "Kind of like she's seen a lot of things a regular sixteen year old should never see."

Rose blinked; Al always had a way of taking people by surprise just by speaking.

"Sure thing Mr. Profound," Andy said sarcastically as he shoved a biscuit in his mouth, "can we just go get our timetables so I can wake myself up?"

Everyone nodded and filed slowly to where this year's timetables were being handed out by Professor Longbottom. No one noticed the frown that had appeared on Nora's face as she watched the group of friends walk away from the table; her eyes focusing on the back of one person.

"Ugh double potions with the Slytherin's," Alice said with disgust, "I feel sorry for you three." Alice, who had always been horrible at potions, had happily dropped it for this year along with Andy who claimed that Stone was far too evil to truly ever be a good teacher.

"What do Andy and you have?" David asked, looking over Alice's head to look at her schedule.

"We have Care of Magical Creatures," Alice responded, "should be loads of fun as long as Hagrid doesn't make us look after something that could chew us to bits."

The five parted ways and Al, David and Rose quickly walked down to the dungeons where the potions room was located. The three entered the room and sat at a table in the far back of the room; the farther away from Stone the better. Rose noticed Malfoy, Tatiana and some of their cronies sitting closer to the front of the room and she frowned in distaste. She couldn't help it, whenever she saw then it was as if her gag reflexes activated and she was going to wretch all over the floor.

Rose heard the door slam firmly behind her and she turned to see Professor Stone stride into the room. Professor Stone could be classified as attractive, if your type of guy was someone who didn't know how to smile and loved to torture children. He had thick jet-black hair, that Rose believed he dyed regularly, and ice blue eyes that froze the souls of innocent students everywhere. Basically he was not the nicest man in the world.

As he reached the front of the room he pivoted on his heel and stared sharply around the room, scanning each face as if looking for someone. "Weasley!" he barked loudly and she jumped in her seat.

"Yes professor?"

"Where's Ms. Wilson?" he asked stiffly. For some reason Stone seemed relieved, as if the lack of Nora's presence was the greatest news he had heard in years.

"Um-?" Rose started to answer but she was interrupted when the door to the room swung open with a crack as it hit the wall.

"Locking your students out of class is a bit inconsiderate don't you think Professor?" Nora asked with a snarl. Everyone turned to look and all the guys in the room began to gape. Rose groaned; Nora had turned on the charm and was glowing like a beacon. It seemed the only people in the room who were unfazed by her were Stone, Al and much to Rose's surprise, Malfoy.

Stone's lip curled into a sneer. "You're late Ms. Wilson, ten points from Gryffindor for your tardiness."

"Professor, last time I checked the bell sounding the beginning of the period has yet to go off," Nora replied back with a feral smile that made her resemble some sort of animal circling its prey.

Rose's brows furrowed in thought. Nora was right, Rose had never heard the bell go this morning, so technically she wasn't late.

Stone seemed flustered at her comment and Nora just smirked as she slid into the desk nearest Rose's. Stone's nostrils flared with anger and he turned stiffly to the chalkboard and began writing notes for the class to copy. Nora noticed Rose looked at her and shot her a wink. At that moment the bell for the start of class rang very loudly in everyone's ears and Nora's smile grew. That was when Rose realised that Nora had purposefully somehow made sure the bell had not rung when it was supposed to. Nora's words echoed in her head. _You have noticed how I like to make grand entrances. _Rose shot her an exasperated look and Nora put on a face of pure innocence.

The double period seemed to stretch on forever, especially since Nora hadn't seen any need in turning off her charm for a good half hour at the beginning of class, so pretty much every guy was drooling over her, while every girl was glaring at her. Rose was however quite puzzled as to why Al seemed to be unaffected by her, and she was very puzzled as to why Scorpius Malfoy was as well.

Stone had set them on the task of brewing a rather potent sleeping draught, which Rose was having very little trouble brewing, especially since she had both Al and David for help.

"Al stir it four times counter-clockwise," David muttered.

"It's three times Dave."

"It's four Al."

"Three!"

"Four!"

"For Merlin's sake," Rose said throwing up her arms in exasperation, "it's actually five you idiots."

Well at least they were entertaining.

Nora was working alone and much to Rose's surprise she was working diligently and being lazy at the same time. Ingredients soared around her table in graceful circles, while certain ingredients would land on her desk where they would be mashed, diced or chopped by different types of utensils by some unseen force. Once finished the cutting board or bowl would lift magically and dump the contents into Nora's cauldron. And much to everyone's astonishment Nora was barely paying attention to what her ingredients were doing because she was busy reading on how to tame your pet chimera.

Stone, who had surprisingly not bothered anyone throughout the entire class was sitting at the front of the room furiously scribbling things on a piece of parchment as he watched Nora's ingredients sore around her head. It looked oddly as if he was taking notes on her behaviour. Nora seemed, as usual, unfazed by the odd look she was getting from her classmates as she continued to read.

By the end of the class everyone was rosy cheeked, tired of stirring and Rose's hair had expanded so much from the humidity that she was barely recognizable. She poured some of Al, David and hers potion into a small vial and then corked it. Rose looked over at Nora to see that a vial had magically lifted itself into her potion to scoop some into the vial. The vial rose and Rose gave an impressed mumble when she saw that Nora's potion was the exact midnight blue that the potion was supposed to be and she had done it without raising her head. Nora looked up from her book, grabbed the vial and walked it up to the front of the room, where she dropped it into Stone's vial rack. Stone peered at it as if hoping that the potion was puke yellow in colour but his expression visibly fell when he saw that the sleeping draught looked exactly the way it should and maybe a little better than his own example.

The bell ending their double period suddenly rang and Rose hurried her potion up to the front of the room and handed it in. She grabbed her things from her desk on her way to the door and then walked out with David and Al who were conversing in hushed tones.

"How do you reckon she's doing that magic Al? I mean it's pretty advanced stuff from what I've seen and she's not even of age yet."

"I don't know Dave but it seems like she's using telekinesis."

"But no wizard can actually use telekinesis. Sure we can do some wandless magic but we need to think the spell before we actually perform it. She seemed as if she was barely paying attention, like she had just ordered her ingredients to make a sleeping draught for her."

"Well maybe she's different," Al muttered more to himself then to David. Rose didn't like his tone. Rose and Al were a lot more alike than people thought. They were cousins after all. The one thing they both shared was their thirst for knowledge, but the difference between them was that Rose liked exploring castles, towns or through books. Al was curious about people. He had the uncanny ability to read people like pages of a book. He could tell if you were lying, if you likes someone, which Hogwarts couple was on or off or if you were just upset, to the point where it was like he had a sixth sense. Al's one problem was that if he couldn't read someone properly then he started to become interested in that person and if it was a girl he couldn't read, he always seemed to end up liking her until he finally cracked through her wall of mystery and learned all of her deepest and darkest secrets. That was his flaw; he got bored once there were no surprises left for the girl to offer. He liked to be kept guessing and by the looks of things Nora Wilson was doing just that. The sad thing was that he had no idea that he acted like that.

"Come on you two," Rose said changing the subject of the conversation, "let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" David asked bluntly and Rose scowled.

"I don't know," she said in a flustered voice, "how Scorpius Malfoy looks more dazed then he ever has."

"I actually agree with you on that," Al said in his 'I'm interested' voice, "he looks absolutely out of it half the time. Like he's some sort of zombie."

"Maybe his parents have got him on calming solution," David said with a shrug.

Rose looked at David like he had three heads. "Why would Scorpius Malfoy need calming solution? He's the calmest person in our year."

"Exactly."

"That doesn't make any sense Dave," Al said with a snort and David blushed.

"He just has this really creepy vacant look to him," Rose said with a shiver, "he has yet to even send me one of his infamous sneering looks and he always gave me those last year."

"Until you snogged Darren," Al put in.

Rose blinked and shot Al an icy look. "That was a mistake."

"I know, I know," Al repeated reassuringly, "I think you just proved Malfoy wrong last June that's all. He didn't think you'd actually get smashed and snog White. I bet he probably thought you'd just go off in a corner and cry like any other girl."

"So?"

"So, he may not know how to approach you now. I mean we're not twelve anymore so calling you carrot top or frizzilla is kind of immature. I think he just doesn't know how to get under your skin anymore so he's stopped trying. For now at least."

"Al your making it sound like Malfoy's life is meaningless without a way to bother Rose," David said in an unbelieving tone. "And that makes it seem like Malfoy fancies her."

Rose froze at this statement and stopped dead in her tracks, gaping like a surprised gold fish. "Are you bloody mental?" she spluttered, "There is no way in hell that Scorpius Malfoy fancies me!"

"I didn't say he did Rose," Al said quickly, "I'm just saying that I saw the look on his face when he saw you kissing Darren and he wasn't just surprised."

"Come to think of it, Al's right," David added, "he looked kind of like someone had clubbed him in the back of the head with a beater's bat."

Rose just gaped at them. She had seen Scorpius' face as well. She remembered his pale features contorted in shock and she remembered shooting him a triumphant grin as Darren had kissed his way down her neck –which she painfully regretted. What happened after had even surprised her. She remembered his shocked face darkening and a flash of some unknown emotion cross over his eyes before he rushed away.

No! No, that was impossible. There was no way any of this was true because Malfoy despised her. Rose collected herself and then shot Al and David defiant looks. "You guys are going mad, Scorpius has only every despised me and I have the same feelings towards him. In fact last time I checked he's still dating Zabini."

David just shrugged; obviously not really believing it either but Rose didn't like the look on Al's face. She could almost see his brain chugging away as he analysed every memory he had of Scorpius and her ever actually commingling with each other. Rose sighed in dismay; Al could never leave well enough alone.

* * *

Nora had been listening in on their conversation from behind the wall when she had heard her name mentioned. There was something very interesting about Albus Potter and Nora wanted to figure out what it was. He seemed to be noticing things about her that no one else could, which was making her wary.

But when the three friends had changed the topic of conversation to Scorpius Malfoy, another guy in this school who seemed to resist her charm, she couldn't help but continue to listen in. This Scorpius guy seemed like a very lost individual; someone a lot like her. She knew of the Malfoy vs. Potter/Weasley feud. Her dad had told her about it one day when he was reading the paper and for once felt like acknowledging her. Apparently the Malfoy's had been death eaters, so no wonder the Weasley's and the Potter's disliked them immensely. For a Malfoy to like any Weasley in any way, let alone romantically, was a very big problem. Nora smiled, a plan forming in her head; this was going to need some investigating.

* * *

A/N- Does Scorpius like Rose or not? That is the question. I will continue to update quickly since I have a lot of my chapters already written and ready to go. So please read and review, since I will greatly appreciate it.


	4. This Game We Call Quidditch

Chapter 4- This Game We Call Quidditch

disclaimer- Harry Potter does not belong to me, he belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

The first two weeks of school at Hogwarts had been quite pleasant for Nora. Not fantastic, not amazing just, pleasant. Aside from the odd little conversation she had had with Rose Weasley on her first day she had barely said a word to anyone else. Except for when she heard one seventh year whisper about how she had become pregnant and was a giant slut so she had to leave her old school. Nora knew that the only reason she had said that was because she had purposefully turned the charm on for her boyfriends the day before since the guy had been absolutely gorgeous. She remembered turning around staring at the girl, using her charm in a much different more terrifying way. Unfortunately Stone had come along and seen what she was doing. After screaming to McGonagall that she was mentally unstable McGonagall had told him to just give her detention and not bother her for the rest of the day. Nora had smirked at this comment and Stone had furiously stomped out of the room, cursing as he went.

Over all Nora didn't bother talking to people. She was well aware of what people thought about her. Crazy, scary, mysterious, bitch, clever- the list was endless. She hadn't always been this closed off from others. Before the incident last year she had had several friends and dare she say it – she was popular. But that had all come tumbling down within only a couple of days. Nora sighed at the memories and went back to the book she was reading. She was currently alone in the Gryffindor common room, which she had to admit was very nice. Definitely a lot better than the student lounge at the Academy. Nora was slightly startled when she heard the portrait hole open and footsteps of an approaching person.

Nora was surprised to see that the person walking into the common room was none other than the Albus Potter, who was looking rather attractive. His charcoal black hair was windswept and tousled every which way and his green eyes seemed to sparkle with laughter. Nora found herself staring at him, something she normally never did with any guy. "How is it outside?" She suddenly blurted in an uncharacteristic fashion and he stopped to look at her in surprise.

"Oh it's nice," Al replied, "you scared me there, I didn't notice you when I came in."

Nora couldn't help but widen her eyes in shock. He hadn't noticed her? No one could ever miss her! Al seemed to notice her shocked expression and fumbled slightly when he dropped his book bag on the floor so he could sit down in the chair next to her.

"I guess most people notice you huh?" Al mumbled sheepishly.

"Yes. Most guys find it hard not to," Nora said honestly and their eyes connected. A light shiver rand down Nora's spine. A shiver she didn't like.

Al cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "So why aren't you outside?"

"I prefer to stay away from people who find me terrifying," she answered, "and I like the quiet. Why aren't you outside?"

Just came to drop my stuff off and grab my broom. A bunch of us want to play some quidditch," he replied with a smile.

"Sounds fun."

"You play quidditch?" Nora blinked. For some reason his voice had seemed slightly hopeful.

"Yes," she replied with a grin.

Al's face brightened at her news. "You should come out with me then. Staying cooped up in here can't be much fun."

Nora knew that walking out of the castle with Albus Potter, whom she had learned was sought after by most of the girls at Hogwarts, might raise a few questions.

"I don't know," she said reluctantly.

"Oh come on," Al exclaimed, "you should talk to more people anyway and here's the perfect opportunity."

Nora gave him a reluctant look and Al smiled mischievously in response. "You know if you're not very good I can show you a few tips. I am on the Gryffindor quidditch team after all."

Nora snorted. She definitely was not bad at quidditch. She had been on the Academy team back in Canada and they hadn't become champions four years in a row by her sucking. "All right Potter, I will play with you. But I have to warn you, "I'm very good."

Al just grinned at her.

* * *

Nora had changed into a pair of jean shorts and a tight black sweater. Her long light brown hair was pulled up, with her broom slung over her shoulder. Al was, surprisingly, easy to talk to. As they walked through the school's hallways, he told her stories about his previous quidditch matched and how last year they had murdered Slytherin to win the quidditch cup. Al had been impressed when she had shown up with her Eclipse model broomstick, the newest broom model in North America.

"Wow, I heard these things are wicked fast. How the hell did you afford this thing? It costs a bloody fortune." Al gushed as she stared at the sleek black racing broom.

"My dad has a lot of disposable income and he likes to keep me happy."

"You're lucky, my parents are rolling in cash but they still say that if I want something I have to save up for it."

"You're the lucky one. My dad buys me things so I won't talk to him," Nora admitted bitterly,

"Oh," Al said with a wince, "sorry."

"It's fine. I'm used to it."

Al shot her a curious glance, as if he wanted to learn more, but instead decided to chatter on, not noticing the looks people were giving them as they walked by. But Nora had noticed them. Different looks varying from shock to jealousy were directed in their direction. They stepped out onto the grounds where more people stopped and stared in interest at Albus Potter walked to the quidditch pitch with a lightly clothed Nora Wilson.

Nora had never had much of a problem with the cold and the middle of September in Scotland seemed absolutely lovely to her. They walked quickly along the path to the pitch, which they entered into through a small wooden archway. Nora couldn't help but be slightly impressed by their pitch; it was definitely well built and the stands were draped with the colours of all the different houses. Nora stared ahead of her at the group of people gathered in the middle of the freshly cut field who seemed to be arguing amongst themselves, and had yet to notice Al or Nora's presence.

Nora was unsure of whether to go up to the group of just hang back, which Al noticed. He gently reached out and grabbed her hand and began to pull her towards the group of people. Nora was too shocked to make him let go, so she let him pull her willingly towards the group of students.

"I get Al!" James bellowed. Luckily Nora had been paying attention to who people were over the past couple of weeks and could easily identify them.

"Oh come on James," Darren whined with exasperation, "you shouldn't get everyone who's on the Gryffindor team, it's hardly fair."

"Look, there's Al," Lily Potter called out. Everyone in the group turned to look at Al only to be surprised upon seeing Nora with him; his hand still holding hers. That was when Nora made him let go.

"I brought Nora because she claims she's better than I am," Al said casually, obviously not affected by the fact that she had shaken his hand away from hers or the looks people were giving him.

"Is she good," James asked quickly. One thing Nora had noticed about James Potter was that he had a one-track mind. If he wanted a certain thing, it seemed as if nothing could ever get in the way of him every getting it and right now, he wanted to play quidditch.

"She says she's good."

"I played on my school team back in Canada," Nora offered, straightening up her posture. Many of the guys in the group blinked dazedly upon hearing her musical voice.

"Alright Darren you can have Wilson and I will take my brother; you good with that?"

Darren looked her up and down. "What position do you play?"

"Chaser," she responded proudly.

Darren grinned and looked back at James. "I'm good with that."

The group of people then sighed happily at Darren's statement and began to disperse in opposite directions. Nora was about to walk to her end of the pitch when she felt someone grab a hold of her arm. She turned to see Al smiling broadly. "I guess we'll have to see if you really are better than me Wilson."

Nora grinned in response.

* * *

Rose was watching the quidditch match from the stands with Andy and Alice. They were there because both Al and David were on the Gryffindor quidditch team. Al was a chaser and David a beater. Rose had been very surprised that Nora had shown up with Al and then promptly put on one of the teams. But all traces of astonishment disappeared when she saw Nora play.

She was brilliant.

Rose watched in awe as Nora flew fast, upside down, sideways and in intricate designs with so much grace that it seemed as if she was born to fly around on a broom. But her flying was nothing compared to the circles she was making around Al, Greyson Wood - son of quidditch player Oliver Wood and a Gryffindor 4th year - and her cousin Roxy. She could literally appear out of nowhere and grab the quaffle with ease from either of them and they wouldn't notice she had taken it until she was half way down the pitch.

"You think she's using her weird floaty ability," Alice said, mouth open in wonder as she watched Nora hang upside down on her broom and then make an effortless goal on James who was too busy being shocked to notice she had just scored on him.

"I doubt it," Andy commented, "the way she's flying seems way too natural for her to be using magic." Andy loved quidditch, but like Rose, he couldn't fly to save his life. He claimed it was bloody uncomfortable for his two friends down below but Rose was pretty sure it was just because he was embarrassed at how he could barely get a broom off the ground. Alice didn't play quidditch because she was absolutely terrified of heights and Rose and Andy would have to drag her to each game telling her it was good for her. She still refused to come to any games where Gryffindor wasn't playing; always claiming it was a waste of time. Rose looked at Alice who was watching the match in rapt attentiveness. Now that's odd. Alice usually watched quidditch through the cracks of her fingers. Now that she thought about it Alice had come up into the stands with very little coaxing or whining. Huh, had she gotten over her fear of heights?

Rose looked back to the game to see David hit a bludger coming directly for him at Darren, who narrowly missed being hit by rolling over mid-air, dropping the quaffle he was carrying into Al's waiting arms. Alice began to cheer furiously and jump up and down in celebration, only to sit quickly back down; her face an unpleasant green colour. David had noticed Alice's exuberant cheering and was now bright red from embarrassment. Andy had failed to notice any of what had just happened and was still completely focused on the match, but Rose was now drawing a blank as to what she had just seen. Maybe she was just over thinking things. Maybe Alice is finally getting into watching quidditch and David blushes over practically anything so there really wasn't anything to look into. Yes, there was absolutely nothing to what she just saw. Rose looked over at Alice to see her glazed eyes following David's every move. Okay... maybe not.

Rose sighed. Did everyone like someone or was she going insane? Rose, to this day, had never _really_ liked anyone. Going to Hogsmeade with Toby in her third year had only been because she had been too nice to turn him down and she definitely didn't like Darren as more than a friendly acquaintance. Who knew who he'd slept with and she was not about to become the next notch on his bedpost. Alice claimed that there was nothing wrong with her but Rose was pretty sure that the Grenning twins thought she didn't even like guys.

"_What about Scorpius Malfoy_?" A voice in the back of her head asked.

Rose visibly recoiled, which was luckily around the same time a bludger hit Thomas Seymour - a Gryffindor 5th year - in the stomach. Her fancy Scorpius Malfoy? Ha! That was probably the most hilarious idea she had ever heard. Even more hilarious then him fancying her. Rose looked over to where Malfoy was sitting, along with the all the Slytherin quidditch team, which included Zabini. While the rest of the team seemed to be mocking everyone, Scorpius was ignoring them and actually paying attention to the match. Which Rose decided was a good thing since he was their team's captain. Rose wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she believed that Malfoy was the best chaser in Hogwarts. Well now second since Nora looked like she could be a professional and she was only sixteen. Anyway it was best not to ever mention this to Al for fear of hurting his feelings or making him think she might fancy Malfoy. Which she definitely did not. That was when Rose realised she was staring, rather obviously, at Scorpius Malfoy.

Much to Rose's horror Malfoy's head suddenly turned in her direction, to see her staring directly at him, her face now probably the colour of a tomato. Scorpius' face hardened into his normal expressionless mask and his head whipped back to the position it had been before; his jaw clenching in frustration. Rose couldn't help but be offended at how he had reacted to her staring at him. He had looked as if he had swallowed some sort of flesh eating beetle or something. Well at least that proved he didn't like her. She would have to tell Al.

Rose refocused her attention on the quidditch match to see that Nora had scored another three times on James (making the score 120-60), who seemed to be unable to decide whether he should be angry or impressed. Rose searched the mass of flying people to see Nora, her cool confident demeanour bringing confidence to the rest of her team mates. Rose scowled; why couldn't she be more like that?

"Hey, what's James talking to Lily for?" Andy said pointing at James. Lily was listening to her brother intently and as soon as he had finished talking to her she quickly sped off in the opposite direction. It was not until she dropped suddenly that everyone realised she had seen the snitch. Connor Grant, the Gryffindor reserve seeker, noticed her actions as well and sped after her.

Connor was not a horrible seeker, with more practice he would be brilliant, but everyone knew Lily was bloody amazing. With enough grace to rival a ballerina, Lily outstretched her arm and grabbed what was obviously the snitch. Everyone in the audience - except the Slytherin's - cheered loudly when Lily waved the snitch for everyone to see. However, Rose knew the person who was mainly victorious in this match was Nora. All of the player's were descending to the ground to congratulate each other, so Rose, Andy and Alice quickly made their way down the stands to the crowd converging in the middle of the field.

"Come on you two, James is talking to Nora. We can't miss what he's saying," Andy said impatiently. When the three of them reached the group of player's Darren had his arm rested on Nora's shoulders, who seemed to barely notice it was there, and James was gushing over her abilities on a broom.

"Wilson, you are bloody brilliant on that broom of yours," he gushed, "I have never seen anyone fly like that. Not even the professionals and that's saying something.

"Thanks Potter," she said with a dazzling smile.

"I don't know if you know this Wilson, but there is a chaser position open on the Gryffindor team and I would worship you if you joined up. I mean you made Grey and my brother look like they'd rode a broom for the first time today."

"Hey," Al said in a fake offended voice. Rose knew he was probably inwardly gloating over the fact that he had gotten her down here in the first place, so there was no need to be upset about having his ass beaten to a pulp.

Nora just continued to smile, completely comfortable with Darren's arm over her shoulders. Rose couldn't help but think that Nora was using Darren more as an accessory, when it was supposed to be Darren using her as one. "I guess I could," she replied, "as long as your team is okay with it."

"Speaking for all of us," Lily began, "I'd have to say we wouldn't mind you being on the team."

"Agreed," said Fred with a grin, his beater bat swung over his shoulder. David was nodding in agreement next to him.

"Anything Lily wants I'm good with," Greyson said cheekily and Lily glowered at him.

"Wood quit hitting on my sister," James barked and then turned to look back at Nora, "there you go Wilson. We all want you around. So what do you say?"

Nora's face became thoughtful, while everyone in the crowd of students held their breath. Nora glanced around at everyone and she grinned. "Say hello to Gryffindor's newest player." Everyone cheered happily at her statement and Darren grabbed Rose with his other free arm and rested it around her shoulders.

"I think this calls for a celebration captain James," Darren said loudly, "since Gryffindor is definitely winning the cup this year for the fifth year in a row!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that White," a voice drawled behind the group of Gryffindor's. Everyone turned to see the Slytherin quidditch team standing behind them, looking as full of themselves as usual.

"Weren't you just watching the match Malfoy," James said as he stepped up beside Rose, since Darren still had both arms wrapped around Nora and her. Rose peered over at Nora to see her smiling in a sickly sweet way that made Rose shiver slightly.

"I was and I have come to the conclusion that your newest team mate has a bigger ego then you do," Malfoy said coldly. Rose felt Nora tense through Darren. Rose looked back at Malfoy and couldn`t help but think this may be the last time she ever saw him again, since Nora looked like the kind of person who could murder someone and then get away with it.

James let out a loud laugh in response. "That's hilarious Malfoy, especially coming from you. We all know your broom can barely get off the ground half the time because your head is so bloody big."

"Not to mention he's faker then those diamond earrings his girlfriend's wearing. Let me guess honey, you've been telling everyone that they're real," Nora spat venomously, a superior grin on her face as if she knew something everyone else didn't. Everyone around Rose visibly flinched at how cold her voice was. Rose was stunned. Was Nora trying to get a rise out of the Slytherin's? Tatiana growled menacingly and that unknown emotion she had seen in Malfoy's eyes last June passed across them yet again. Scorpius' eyes darted from Darren to Nora and then to her. His lip curled in anger.

"Well it's nice to see that you're cementing your position as one of White's new whores. Now you can keep Weasley company," Scorpius snarled. Rose was too shocked by his comment to say anything back but the next thing she knew Al, Darren, Fred, Andy, Hugo, David, and James had their wands whipped out and pointing at Malfoy and all of the Slytherin's were pointing their wands back at them. Nora, who no one was paying attention to, was shaking violently. Her hands were clenched at her side and much to Rose's horror, looked as if they were glowing with heat. Rose quickly went into action. She grabbed hold of Nora's arm and shook her so that she would snap out of whatever was happening to her. Nora's head snapped up and her body relaxed, fists unclenching as steam rose from them. Then Rose stepped in between both parties, facing the Gryffindor's, and used her best angry mother face on them all.

"That is enough," she bellowed, "you're all acting like a bunch of first years! Now all of you lower your bloody wands or so help me I will make your lives a living hell!" Upon hearing this the Gryffindor's all lowered their wands reluctantly, knowing that Rose always kept her word. Rose satisfied with their response turned on the Slytherin's. "And Malfoy, the day I become a whore will be the day you get over your angst ridden self and learn how to show some sort of positive emotion." Rose then pivoted on her heel, grabbed hold of a bewildered Alice and a murderous looking Nora and marched away from the group of people; head held high.

* * *

A/N- I'd have to say that this is my favourite chapter so far because I definitely hit my stride while writing it. Well, Nora has decided that hiding away from the world was not such a great idea. Also a little Scorpius jealousy thrown in there as well. Please read and review since it is much appreciated by me. Toodles.


	5. Some Dreams Can Be Seen As Nightmares

Chapter 5- Some Dreams can be seen as Nightmares

Nora did not know whether to be ecstatic about her present situation or wary. Becoming friends with the Albus Potter and Rose Weasley and becoming the Gryffindor quidditch team's new secret weapon had bumped up her social status tenfold. And, from her perspective, that was a bit of a problem. Nora knew how nosy the gossip column in the Daily Prophet was and they would definitely have a field day if they found out that Rose Weasley and Albus Potter were friends with someone like her. That would be only if they ever figured out her secret. Luckily for her, her father being ashamed of her meant him covering up every last trace of evidence tying her to any crime, keeping witnesses quiet with money and her personal favourite, blackmailing someone into silence. Soon people started making up stories of a potion gone wrong causing the explosion half a year ago, a spell recited incorrectly or that the cause could never be identified. No one thought for a second, who was not anywhere near the blast, that Nora Wilson was the cause of it. People assumed that she had been expelled for another very different reason. A reason that Nora shuddered at every time she thought about it.

"Move!" someone bellowed loudly near Nora, startling her out of her thoughts. Nora looked around to see Scorpius Malfoy, pushing his way through a group of second years. She had noticed that over the past week Scorpius Malfoy had gone from emotionally detached to highly irritable. Everyone seemed to be waiting for him to just spring and attack someone the next time they so much as brushed his shoulder.

Nora followed Malfoy into the Great Hall where she made her way over to the Gryffindor table; several pairs of eyes followed her as she went. She may be considered popular now by most but most still found her terrifying. Nora settled into a seat beside Al who was currently sitting alone eating his lunch.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," he replied back with a wave of his hand. Al had been the one to except her the quickest into their little group of friends. Rose followed quickly afterwards. It had take David and Andy a bit more convincing that she wasn't psychotic since they still seemed sore about the whole waking everyone up with muggle music. Alice, however, still seemed a bit cautious of her. Nora guessed it was probably because unlike Alice, she had a very big personality, which could be very volatile on bad days.

"Where is everyone?"

Al swallowed some of his roll and then looked at her. "Probably outside or maybe Rose forced them all to go to the library."

Nora smiled. Rose was one of the most serious and dedicated girls she had ever met. While other sixteen year olds talked about guys and how much sex they were having, Rose was talking about exploring the world or how fantastic the book she was reading was.

"What's wrong with Malfoy?" Al asked as she stared over at the Slytherin table. Nora looked over to see that Malfoy was glowering at his food as if it had caused all of his problems.

"I think he's still upset over what Rose said to him a week ago."

Al flinched when he saw Malfoy lift up his fork and stab his salad mercilessly. "I'd have to agree with you on that. This is the most emotion he's shown in over six months."

Nora snorted and they both turned away from the Slytherin table. Nora grabbed a bowl from the stack in front of her; magically floated the salad over to her and then it began forking itself into her bowl.

"I have a theory," Al declared as he shovelled potato salad into his mouth.

"Ok," Nora responded distractedly as she concentrated on pouring her salad dressing while levitating the bread down to their end of the table.

"I think Malfoy likes Rose."

Nora stopped what she was doing and looked over at him, trying to feign surprise; the floating bread basket back safely on the table. "Really?"

It worked. "Ya I do. I mean the signs are all there," Al explained, "he gets emotional only over things that have to do with Rose. Last year, when he saw Darren and Rose going at it he looked about read to kill. Or crawl off into a corner and cry, either one. And a week ago he looked as if Rose had punched him in the stomach. Over all if anyone else would have said that to him he would be barely pay them any notice."

"So you're saying that since Rose said it, and he likes her, it affected him more."

"Exactly."

Nora looked back over at Malfoy to see him snapping at a kid who accidently touched him. "I think it's a pretty good theory Al," Nora said with a nod.

"Yes but I have no way of proving it and the last time I told Rose about my suspicions she practically had a hernia." Nora nodded along with what he said trying not to let him on to the fact that she had heard what Rose had said when Al told her his theory.

"Well maybe I could find out," Nora offered as she ate some of her salad.

"How?"

"I have my ways," Nora said with a swallow.

Al was about to say something when he was distracted by something over Nora's shoulder. He smiled and waved and Nora turned to see Rose, Alice, David and Andy walking towards them; Rose holding a book and the other three looking rather disgruntled.

"Sorry we're so late. Rose dragged us all down to the library so that we could look for a book," Andy grumbled.

"What's wrong with reading?" Nora asked in confusion.

"Nothing of course," Alice muttered quickly. Nora frowned. Obviously Alice was still wary of her.

"There is something wrong with reading when we have to look through all those damn dusty books because Rose can't reach the top shelf," David said grumpily, "it's like the only reason I'm around is so that I can reach and get things for you lot."

"Yes Dave, your life is so hard," Rose said sarcastically as she sat down in the seat across from Nora.

"Oh look, post is here," Al said beside her. Nora didn't even turn her head to look. She never got any mail and if she did, it usually wasn't the good kind. Much to Nora's surprise a large black owl landed in front of her, a blue letter clutched in its beak. Nora stared at it and it stared back at her with clear distaste. Anything her father owned hated her, it was almost like as soon as he touched something it was forced into not liking her.

"That's a very pretty owl Nora," Rose said across from her, peering at the owl in interest.

"Oh yes, Nightshade is a looker. Everything my dad owns has to be over the top beautiful in some way," Nora said with a scowl, as she went back to eating her salad.

"Aren't you going to take the letter?" Al asked gesturing towards Nightshade, whose large yellow eyes were glaring at everyone at the table.

"No, but if you want to take the letter be my guest." Al just raised an eyebrow in her direction and took the letter from Nightshade's beak. He hissed impatiently and then took off from the table.

"Are you going to open it?" Al said as he held the envelope in his hand. Nora looked at it with extreme dislike. It was her father's stationary; she had recognised it from the moment she could clearly see the gold cursive 'RW' written on the front of the letter.

"No."

"Why not? I know you never get mail and this looks rather official," Alice said and Nora couldn't help but send her a dirty look. Alice paled visibly at her reaction and kept her mouth shut.

"Alright I will open my letter and read it to you so you will understand why I don't look at anything that is ever sent to me by my father." Nora took the letter from Al, tore it open angrily and unfolded the short letter inside.

_"Dear Nora," _Nora began,_ "I'm writing to tell you a few things that I am currently worried about at your new school. You know how much I did not want you going to that school in that first place. Hogwarts is rife with teaching staff who barely know what they are doing and the stories I have heard from that school are sometimes horrifying. It is absolutely beyond my understanding as to why the school board over in the UK had yet to shut that place down, much less let you attend school there._

_But this is not the reason why I'm writing you. I have learned that you have joined one of the school's quidditch teams and have begun making friends, even though I told you to keep a low profile. But we both know how much you love the spotlight._

_In other words Nora, if anything like what happened last year occurs again, I guarantee I will have you locked up for the rest of your life where you will be put under twenty-four hour surveillance, just like before. Have a good day. Richard Wilson."_

Everyone at the table was silent after Nora finished reading the letter from her father. She summoned a candle that was burning down the table and set fire to the letter, silently watching as it burned to shreds.

"He sounds cheery," Andy said quietly. Nora snorted.

"I had no idea," Alice whispered.

"Well now you know that not everyone's parents actually love them."

"Why were you on twenty-four surveillance?" Al asked cautiously.

"Stop being nosy Al," Rose snapped and Al scowled at her. "Nora you don't have to listen to your father. You never have to close yourself off from others just because you're different. Merlin knows you're probably a lot more powerful and smart then your father."

"Thanks."

"Besides why would you ever listen to someone like that?" David asked, "I haven't even met the guy and I know he's a complete ass."

"Wouldn't you listen to your dad if it meant having him pleased with you?" Nora asked tiredly. This caused David to shut his mouth quickly and look at the floor shamefully. "Guys don't worry about it okay. I'm used to this shit from my dad. He's been treating me like this for about seven years; I've learned not to take what he says to heart."

"So where are you going for break?" Alice asked meekly, still afraid of getting dirty looks from her.

"What?"

"Break," Alice repeated, "are you going to stay here?"

"No," Nora said with a frown, "I have to stay at my house."

"Well at least you get to go back to Canada," Andy said, trying to cheer her up, "You can see your old friends."

"I don't have old friends," Nora said with a resentful laugh, "but you misunderstood. I have to stay at _my _house. Alone. With my two house elves."

"Your dad isn't visiting you?" Al asked in confusion.

"You have a house?" Andy asked in an impressed voice, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and Rose elbowed him in the side.

"Yes to both question," Nora chuckled as she watched Andy rub his side painfully.

"Then you should come stay with me," Rose said with authority.

"What?"

"Stay with me. Then you don't have to be all alone on Christmas and my mum won't go nutters over the fact that you have house elves."

Nora wasn't used to acts of kindness. Living with her neglectful father for months without any other social contact had probably affected her brain in some way. "I don't mean to be rude Rose but a week ago you thought I was psychotic and now you're inviting me over for Christmas break."

"Well that's a long way away, but it is October, and no one should be alone on Christmas. So, why don't you think about it and I will inform my mother about the changes." Rose said cheerily as she began to put food on a plate. Nora raised an eyebrow and looked at Al, who just shrugged his shoulders. It seemed Rose had already made her mind up. Nora sighed; well she hoped Rose was up for fighting with Richard Wilson III, the richest man in North America's wizarding community.

* * *

Rose knew she was dreaming.

How did she know? Well the fact that she was riding a unicorn without a saddle in a dark green gown sort of gave it away. The unicorn galloped into a grassy clearing and she gracefully jumped off the unicorn. That was when a man appeared in the middle of the clearing, facing away from her. And when Rose meant man, she really meant man. He was tall and dressed in what appeared to be what a peasant would wear in medieval times. His hair appeared to be white under the glow of the moonlight. The man's white shirt was slightly see through in the moonlight and Rose could see the man's well defined back muscles. She looked lower and her eyebrows shot up appreciatively in her mind. His ass wasn't too bad looking either.

"My love," Rose's dream self called out in a rather Shakespearean way. _My love? _What the hell was she talking about? The man in the clearing turned slowly around and Rose almost screamed in surprise at whose steel grey eyes she was looking into. There in the middle of the clearing was Scorpius Malfoy.

Rose's eyes popped open in shock. Bloody hell she was going to kill Al for putting these god-awful thoughts in her head. She groaned as she sat up in bed. She decided she needed something to drink so she could calm down, because medieval romance fantasies about Malfoy was something she could not shake off lightly. Rose quietly got up and tiptoed soundlessly to the bathroom. She looked into the candlelit mirror to see her hair as frizzy as ever but her eyes seemed oddly dark for some reason. Rose shook off the change in eye colour and grabbed a glass to fill with water. Merlin she was hot.

Once she had drank a good three classes of water – thus guaranteeing her need to wake up in two hours to pee – she walked as quietly as she could back to her bed only to be stopped when she heard a frightened murmur. What was that? Rose looked around to her to hear who had made the noise.

"I'm not like you," someone mumbled.

Rose looked over at Alice who was sleeping soundly and that was nothing like usual nasally voices of the Grenning twins. Rose looked over at Nora's bed, to see the curtains drawn shut so not one could see in. "No, I will never be like you," the person moaned. Rose now knew that the voice was coming from Nora's bed, so she strode over a whipped back the curtains to see Nora twisting in her sleep with a terrified look on her face.

"Get away from me Darius," Nora said in a louder more frantic voice. Rose knew that Nora may not be too happy about her overhearing her dream but she was not going to leave her like this. Besides she was getting rather loud.

Rose outstretched her hand and firmly grasped Nora's arm and began to gently shake her. "Nora you're dreaming. Wake up," she said as quietly as possible. Nora began to fight against her grasp. Oh for the love of Merlin, Nora thought she was the person attacking her in her nightmare. "Nora it's me," she whispered worriedly, "wake up, you're having a nightmare." With those words Nora's frightened golden eyes popped open and she stared at Rose in confusion.

"Rose?" she croaked.

"It's me," Rose said awkwardly, when she noticed how odd the situation was, "you were having a nightmare." As if that wasn't obvious.

"Ya," Nora grumbled, as she rubbed her hand across her face wearily.

"You ok?" Rose asked, trying not to appear too nosy.

"I'm fine," Nora said, but Rose knew she was lying.

"Nora, what were you dreaming about?" Rose asked gently, "you were talking in your sleep."

Nora seemed to freeze at this statement and she looked up at Rose with a look of panic. "What did I say?" she asked quickly.

Rose did not like how frightened and panicked Nora looked. Nora never looked scared. She always seemed to be exuding charm and confidence as if it were second nature for her, but now she was practically shaking with fright. "You were saying things about how you will never be like someone and you mentioned the name Darius."

Nora visibly flinched and wrapped her arms around herself protectively when Rose mentioned the name that she had said in her sleep.

"Nora it's okay. I won't tell anyone you were having nightmares; I promise."

"Thanks," Nora muttered shakily.

"Is this why you stay up so late? Because you have nightmares?" Rose asked tentatively.

Nora grunted and nodded her head in response. So Nora had a lot of nightmares and by the looks of things, they were recurring ones. "Would you like some water to calm you down?"

"No, I'm not going to have any more dreams about him tonight," Nora mumbled, "I can go back to sleep just fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Rose," Nora said steadily, looking directly into her eyes, "not all nightmares are made by the dreamer in our world. You need to remember that there are bad people in this world and unfortunately, one of them knows me pretty well."

"Do you mean Darius?" Rose asked, but instantly regretted doing so when Nora tensed up once again. Instead of saying something back in response Nora just lay back down in her bed and rolled over to face away from Rose. She was obviously done talking. "Goodnight then and remember, I'm here if you need to talk," Rose said as she patted Nora softly. Nora didn't respond and Rose sighed as she stood up to go back to her bed.

"You should definitely not tell anyone about Darius, Rose," Nora said as Rose reached her bed, "it will only cause problems for the both of us." Rose bit her lip and she quietly crawled into her bed. She was never planning on telling anyone anything about what she had heard and learned tonight but she had far too many questions unanswered. But one question stood out the most amongst the rest. Who the bloody hell was Darius and why was Nora so scared of him?

* * *

A/N- Chapter 5 is up! So we get a small glimpse into what Nora's life was like back in Canada and a couple clues as to what happened to her that lead to her coming to Hogwarts. Oh the suspense. Next chapter I will do some explaining about Nora's abilities since it is much needed. Please read and review. Thanks!


	6. Guess What I'm Thinking

Chapter 6 – Guess What I'm Thinking

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine so please do not sue me.

* * *

Nora was exhausted. At the moment she was stretched out across a couch she had conjured in her dorm room, after her fourth quidditch practice in a row and she had finally come to the conclusion that James Potter was the spawn of Satan. How in Merlin's name were Albus and James even related? People would think she was lying if she told people they were brothers if it wasn't for the fact that they definitely had obvious physical similarities.

"Merlin Nora must you continue to conjure up different items of furniture. Our room is starting to look like a furniture outlet," Rose exclaimed as she entered the room, followed by a peeved looking Alice.

"Very funny, but you know you love your bean bag chair," Nora replied, "how come it took you guys so long to get back here?"

"Someone had to stick around to make sure that Ariel Danton didn't make a move onto someone's territory," Rose said as she stared angrily over at Alice whose face turned deep red in colour. "Anyway Nora, Al was looking for you. He said something about a conversation that you guys needed to finish."

Nora scowled at the news. Al was being very persistent about speaking to her ever since she let slip that she had a way of getting proof that Scorpius liked Rose about a week ago, Apparently he wasn't very good at letting things go, since she had made it her mission to avoid the subject entirely. Unfortunately it seemed that Al had no intention of ever letting up. Nora sighed in defeat, she wouldn't admit it, but she was beginning to miss Al. "Where is he?"

"Well he said he was going to be by the oak tree by the lake and he would like it if you would meet him there. Apparently he was pretty sure you'd come."

Nora rolled her eyes. There was one thing that James and Albus Potter shared personality wise, the unwavering belief that they knew everything. "Well I better get going then. Talk to you two later."

* * *

Rose would never admit it but seeing Nora vulnerable had deeply affected her. Someone who Rose had thought o be the most confident person in the world was – by the looks of things – running away from something that had happened in her past. And she was terrified of it. Rose stared out her window in thought. What could scare someone like Nora? The girl who openly mocked Stone and could be so brutally honest at times it was almost painful to hear what she had to say. The only clue she had was the name Darius but she had the problem of not being allowed to ask anyone about that name.

Rose looked over at Nora's bed and recalled the look on her face when Rose mentioned that name. Complete terror was the best way to describe her face and it was all caused by a dream about one guy. The big question was how the hell was she going to figure out who this guy was? Maybe the library could help but Rose doubted it. Why would a British boarding school for witches and wizards have information about the life of a teenage witch from Canada? Although she had heard of Nora's father previous to hearing how much of an ass he was to his own daughter.

Richard Wilson – Nora's dad – was a prominent figure in Canada's wizarding government system. It was believed that at one point he was a shoe in to become the next Minister of Magic in Canada but the death of his late wife changed his chances and he became the minister of defence instead. Rose knew that the best way to find anything out about Nora would be to investigate what her father had been up to for the past few years. There had to be at least a little something on him in the library somewhere.

"Alice," Rose called out.

"What?" Alice shouted over the water of the shower she was currently taking.

"I'm going to go to the library."

"I thought you finished all of your homework?"

"I just need to do some research on something."

"Whatever," she replied back in a bored tone and Rose smiled as she walked quickly out of the room.

* * *

Nora found Al sitting under the big oak tree by the lake still wearing his quidditch uniform from their practice; eyes closed as if deep in thought while leaning up against the old tree. Not wanting to disturb him from his reverie Nora sat quietly down next to him on the cool green grass.

"I was starting to get the impression that you were avoiding me," Al said, eyes still closed.

"Well I tend to avoid people who have a habit of asking too many off limit question," Nora replied sharply and Al snorted.

"It's not my fault you let slip that you have your own way of finding out information. What am I supposed to do, ignore the fact that you ever said it?"

"Yes!" Nora exclaimed. "There are some things about myself I would like to keep secret, and how I know certain things is one of them."

Al turned his head in her direction and frowned at her; his emerald green eyes now open. "I'm not asking you to tell me every little thing about you Nora, but you can't mention something and then avoid finishing the sentence for a whole week."

"And why not?" Nora said stubbornly

"Because to me, it sounds like you want to tell me these things because you would like a real friend. I don't believe that you're that tough. Everyone needs someone to lean on at some point."

Nora blinked in response. Albus Potter wasn't real. He couldn't be, because no guy in their right mind would ever say anything like that to any girl. Not because it wouldn't improve their chances of getting in girls pants because it would definitely, without a doubt, get them their faster. It was just that men honestly did not have the balls to convey emotions without stuttering or turning into piles of goo. But it seemed Al had the balls. Perfect.

Nora sighed. "Fine, I will tell you one very important thing. But you have to keep this a secret until the day you die."

Al's face lit up with a triumphant smile. "Okay."

"I'm not kidding. You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, not even your family, because if this was to ever get out, I would be out of here."

"I promise I won't tell anyone a thing. I mean how big of a secret could this be?" Nora sighed dejectedly and shot him a pointed look. His grin faltered slightly. "Nora, how big is this secret."

"On a scale of one to ten... it's a one hundred, still want to hear it?"

Al groaned. "Ugh you can't do that Nora, now I'm dying to know what the bloody hell you're talking about."

"Alright, alright I'll tell you, but this stays between you and me."

"I swear I won't tell anyone. You can trust me," Al said. Nora looked at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes. He was telling the truth, he wasn't going to tell anyone anything, and she could honestly believe that.

"Well, how does a witch or wizard find out information about someone that they haven't told anyone else?"

Al became thoughtful and leaned forward. "Er, get in their heads?" he answered with a shrug.

Nora's face brightened at Al's guess. "Ding ding! We have a winner!" Nora exclaimed, while waving her arms in excitement.

Al quirked an eyebrow in confusion, "You get in their heads?"

"Putting it bluntly, yes."

"So you can use legilimency?" Al said in a shocked voice.

Nora fidgeted awkwardly. "Yes and no."

Al's face fell slightly. "I don't get it."

"Al , we have established that I'm special," Nora said, trying to remain patient. It had taken ages for any of this to sink in with any of her old friends back in Canada.

"I know that," Al said in an offended tone, "you can levitate things without a wand as if you've been doing it for decades."

"Well I don't need a wand to do some types of magic. All I need is my head." Al gawked at her in awe, his mouth hanging open in rather unattractive way. Maybe this was a little too much to take in all at once. "You okay Al?"

"Explain please," Al croaked.

"Well, with me, I don't need to make eye contact, like legilimency, to be able to read someone's mind. All I have to do is visualize the way they look and they have to be close enough to me so that I don't put any strain on my mind. Besides my form of reading minds is totally different then the legilimency you could one day learn."

"How is that?"

"Legilimency deals with a wizard or witch seeing another wizard or witches memories and then interpreting what they mean to the person performing the legilimency. I can't see memories, but I can hear what a person is thinking if I get in their heads at an exact moment and sometimes I can see what they're thinking. In other words ... I'm telepathic."

Al continued to stare at her in awe. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that this was big."

"Yup."

"So the whole levitating stuff is using your brain."

"Telekinesis is the appropriate term," Nora corrected.

"That's impossible, no wizard or witch has ever been able to use telepathy or telekinesis."

"Well you're looking at the first one," Nora said bitterly.

"But I've seen you transfigure a cup into a kitten before. You can't do that with your brain." Al said, still somewhat in shock by what he had just learned.

"I'm sort of gifted to. I was learning first year magic at the age of eight, so I got ahead of everyone else. Technically I don't have to be in school right now since I've learned everything that I'm supposed to know. So to pass the time I perfected wandless magic last year when I wasn't in school after I got expelled. I barely ever use my wand anymore."

"Why'd you get expelled?"

"That is a question I never plan on answering," Nora snapped and Al put up his hands in defence.

"Alright, alright, I won't ask again. No need to bite my head off."

"It's just something I don't like to talk about," Nora said in her defence as she glared at the lake. Nora sighed angrily over the fact that her life was far too complicated for her own good. Then Al did something that surprised Nora to the point of speechlessness. She had seen him moving out of the corner of her eye but she had thought he was only stretching. Instead his arm was now embracing her in a firm side hug and she was frozen in shock. It wasn't an inappropriate gesture or suggestive in any way. It was just friendly, but she was definitely not used to it. When the only person you are allowed to go near for most of the last six months of your like is your bitchy maid and the father who hates you, you kind of forget what it's like to have a friend.

"You okay?" Al asked softly.

Nora cleared her throat of the emotions that were threatening to spill over. "I'm just not used to this."

"What aren't you used to?"

Nora shifted so that she could look at Al's face without being to close that it was awkward. "Having a friend to talk to; you were right before, I have wanted to tell people things about me, I've just been too afraid to trust people." Al tightened the hug around her shoulders for a second before letting go and standing up.

"Where are you going?" Nora asked, still slightly dazed from realizing she finally had a real friend again.

"Well I'm planning on spying on Malfoy and since you have a certain special skill, I was hoping you'd come along."

"I'm not amazing at the telepathy thing. There's a reason why no one knows about it since I only recently have been able to do it. If McGonagall found out I wasn't telling her I was telepathic she might sick Monroe on me."

Al laughed. "Well we can always use Malfoy as your guinea pig because we all know practice makes perfect."

Nora shot him a look of disdain as she outstretched her arm as an offer to help her up. Al grabbed her hand and pulled her up beside him. "Alright, but you should know there is a possibility of me giving Malfoy a stroke."

"Oh well the only people who will actually miss him are his mom and Zabini. Zabini we can just give her a guy she can shag, but we'll send his mom some nice flowers and a fruit basket."

Nora chuckled in response.

* * *

Researching Nora's family was proving to be as hard as apparating out of Hogwarts. Recently Hogwarts had taken advantage of muggle technology for some unknown reason. Probably because so few students wanted to take muggle studies and it was becoming obvious that they weren't normal when they ventured out into the muggle world, and would start pointing in awe at a picture of a computer while miss pronouncing the word. Hugo had told her that the magically enchanted computer was made in the year 2000 so not many students ever attempted to use it. Partly because they either had no idea how to use it, or because it was slower than a snail. There was absolutely nothing about Nora or her father in any of the world history book or records since after 2018. It was definitely suspicious, since it looked as if anything after the year on their family had been removed from the library.

However, Nora's father was a very important figure in the Canadian Ministry; one would think that at least one newspaper would have mentioned that his daughter was expelled from the only school for wizards and witches in Canada. But there was little information of any use on the school database. Rose had found an article about how Nora was one of the few children to ever get a wand before the age of eleven, since at eight some officials declared her a prodigy. There was an article in a few papers about how Nora's mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's when she was nine, and at eleven she started going to the school at the Canadian Magic Academy for Young Wizards and Witches, but she was three years ahead of all of her peers and had been named as the future of the wizarding world. The last article was a memorial notice for her mom, who died when she was twelve from mental deterioration due to the Alzheimer's she had been diagnosed with about three years previous to her death. But after that there was absolutely no information on Nora, her father or anything remotely scandalous at the Canadian Academy.

Rose decided she wasn't going to get anything done by staring at the ancient computer screen, so she got up and made her way over to Madam Emerson's desk at the front of the library. Madam Emerson was not your typical librarian. She didn't like it when any students called her Madam since she was only about thirty and she believed that it made her seem old, so instead students had to call her Miss. E. Rose was very aware that her nickname sounded like Missy, which was actually Emerson's name.

Yes, the woman was that cool.

Rose strode over to the front desk to see Missy wearing a leopard print blouse. She was reading the muggle novel _Pride and Prejudice, _with her straw blonde hair pulled up in a tight bun and perched on her nose were a pair or horn rimmed glasses that could be her Uncle Percy's.

"Hello Rosie darling," Missy said without lowering her book from her face, "what can I get for you today?" She called every student by a nickname as well. Rose particularly liked Missy's nickname for Scorpius, which was Sunshine.

"Hello Missy," Rose replied, "I was wondering if some information was missing from the school's database.

Missy stopped mid-flip of one of the pages of her book, and lowered it to reveal her crimson red lips moulded into a slight frown. "What's possibly missing?"

Rose paused quickly to think up an answer that did not reveal to Missy that she was snooping in another person's life. "Well, since I became friends with Nora Wilson I just wanted to find out stuff about the school she went to."

Missy rolled her eyes in annoyance. "At the beginning of the year Rock" – her nickname for Stone, which drove him crazy – "came in here claiming that he needed to erase some sensitive information from the database, so as to not shed bad light on the school. I thought his excuse was complete rubbish, so I tossed him out," she explained, waving her hands in the air for affect, her aqua green nails flashing in the lamplight. "Then he comes storming back in here with the Ice Queen yelling that I was being insubordinate to someone of authority and I needed to be sacked immediately!"

"Really," Rose said with interest. Missy's nickname for Monroe was Ice Queen, because for some reason Missy really did not like her.

"I know," she said dramatically, "so naturally I told him to take a flying leap off the astronomy tower, but the Ice Queen cut in before I could continue. She starts going on and on about how Minny" – that was Professor McGonagall – "had approved Rock's actions and I needed to listen to her or face a suspension or something. So I was like, well why didn't he just say that when he came in here the first time, I thought he was trying to sabotage my computer. I also mentioned how everyone knows he hates the thing because he's too dense to know how to use it."

"Cool," Rose replied. Missy often went on like this. Usually Rose would cut her off with a question about a book and then she would forget about what she was talking about, but right now Rose wanted to hear her story.

"Yes, well, Rock starts twitching like he's having some sort of seizure so I ask why are you two deleting things off of my database? The Ice Queen responds with some story about how they need to protect a new student's past misdealing and that's all she would tell me since it was 'top secret'. Then she flips her hair and sashays over to my computer and Rock follows while glaring at me. So if some information is missing, it's because of them."

So, the professors had made sure no one could find out anything about Nora. She should have known. "Well that was a very interesting story Missy and I really liked those bits about Stone. Thanks for your help."

"If you see those two tell them you were a student in need of information and the library was unable to provide it. Merlin knows what they deleted off of there. Soon I may have a riot on my hands due to the fact I'm not providing the best possible resources," she exclaimed angrily.

Rose had already begun to walk away while she was ranting. "I will, don't worry," she said as she edged towards the door, "let me know how your book is once you finish."

Missy's expression instantly softened and she turned back to her book. "Oh I will Rosie darling," she said with a wave goodbye, her nose once again buried in her book. Rose now knew she was done talking and walked quickly out the library doors.

Rose decided that she should head back to the Gryffindor common room to check on Alice, who may or may not be hyperventilating over her newly discovered crush on a person who Alice refused to tell her the name of. Rose still knew it was David though. Rose was pretty sure that he liked her back but they were both so horrible at admitting their feelings when it came to liking someone. Alice was shy and David could get so embarrassed he'd forget how to speak, so they both always avoided conversations that involved saying 'I like you, will you go out with me?'

So now Rose had to figure out a way to make at least one of them admit to the other that they were deeply in love with the other, while trying to figure out at least one thing from Nora's past. It should be easy but, unfortunately, Rose knew it wasn't going to be.

Rose rounded a corner, still deep in thought, only to run directly into someone coming in the opposite direction. Rose stumbled backwards and almost fell but the person she had run into had managed to grab her arm to keep her from falling. Thoroughly embarrassed Rose looked up and began to apologize, "I am so -," but she cut herself short when she saw who was holding onto her arm. Scorpius Malfoy currently towered over her, with a surprised look on his face. "Oh it's you," Rose said acidly, as she jerked her arm out of his grasp. Rose failed to notice the flash of longing that swept across Malfoy's eyes as she pulled away from him.

"So that's the thanks I get for preventing you from falling on your ass after you ran into me," Scorpius replied coldly. Rose's cheeks flared and she straightened her back so she didn't have to stare up at him so much, since he stood at a good 6'2".

"I think you were the one who ran into me," Rose shot back indignantly.

Malfoy shot her an infuriating smirk as he crossed his arms over his lean chest. "Oh yes, I ran into you. Even though you clearly didn't see me coming and I was very aware you were coming yet, to my surprise, you ploughed straight into me."

Rose felt her cheeks heat up even more and Malfoy's smirk grew larger when he observed the change. "Run out of things to say Weasley," he taunted.

"Oi Malfoy! What the bloody hell are you doing?" a voice called out from behind Scorpius. Rose looked behind him to see someone she never thought she would be happy to see. Darren White was now jogging towards them, his shaggy black hair bouncing rather sexily. Not that Rose cared.

"I'm not doing anything White," Scorpius snarled.

"It looks to me," Darren said, now standing beside Malfoy, "like you were bothering Rosie."

Rose rolled her eyes at the nickname, you make out with a guy once and suddenly he starts calling you by the same name your dad does. Darren was a couple of inches shorter then Malfoy but Darren was a lot more endowed in the unnecessary amount of arm muscle category, so if they got into it, her money was on Darren.

"I'm fine Darren," Rose reassured with exasperation, but Darren didn't seem to believe her.

"You want to know something Malfoy."

"Enlighten me," Scorpius said with the same superior smirk he had given Rose earlier. Rose rolled her eyes at the amount of raging testosterone in the air.

"I'm starting to get the feeling like you are obsessed with Rosie here," Darren said with a grin. Rose did a double take and looked over at Malfoy who looked thoroughly taken aback by Darren's statement. "It seems like you can never help at least saying one thing to her or looking at her in some creepy way every time you see her. It's starting to make a few blokes wonder if you'd like to do a little more than talk to her." Rose was busy waiting for Scorpius' reply, since at the moment he seemed to be lost for words. His eyes flicked in her direction for a second and to Rose's surprise they seemed slightly apologetic before he suddenly broke out into laughter.

She stared at him, completely baffled. "What the hell is so funny?" Rose asked.

Malfoy seemed to be tearing up from laughing so hard. "Me... liking you. As if. I'd rather kiss a blast-ended skrewt then touch you."

That hurt. Rose began to feel her eyes prickle with tears for some unknown reason, but she quickly blinked them away. "Well," Rose drawled in quiet rage, "then I'll get out of your presence your mightiness. I didn't mean to offend you so." Rose reached out her right hand and grabbed Darren's shaking hand that looked about ready to break Malfoy's jaw. "Besides why would the pureblood son of a death eater want to touch anyone like me? How silly of Darren to ask since I am just the lowly daughter of a muggleborn and a blood traitor. Keep it up Malfoy, your living up to your family name." Malfoy's previous look of superiority was gone and it had been replaced by his normal vacant expression. Rose knew she had hit the right note with the death eater comment and if her mum ever found out she had said it, she was going to be in shit. Rose turned her back on Malfoy and dragged Darren, who was now grinning in triumph for a reason Rose could not quite comprehend.

* * *

Al and Nora had seen the entire exchange and Nora could not help but grin. "I'm going to murder the slimy git," Al seethed beside her as he balled his hands into fists. "Are you sure he even likes Rose?"

Nora snorted as she looked over at the frozen form of Scorpius Malfoy. "Are you kidding? I don't need to read his mind to know what he's thinking. All he wants is Rose and maybe a little something else a bit more unexpected."

"Like what?"

"A little redemption," Nora said with a mischievous grin, "now enough with the murder threats. There are other ways of hurting people."

"And those are?" Al questioned, giving her an impatient look.

"Mental destruction."

"I like it, so when do you start squishing his brain?"

Nora rolled her eyes and punched Al in the shoulder. "I'm not going to kill him idiot. I'm just going to twist the proverbial knife Rose just put in his back a wee bit deeper. I'm still not totally over the whore comment."

"Okay, he's all yours," Al said gesturing in Malfoy's direction. Nora nodded her head with a smile and began to walk towards Malfoy, Al following behind her.

"Well well, Scorpius Malfoy all alone yet again," Nora said loudly, snapping Malfoy out of his thoughts, "very smooth, the next time you're given the chance of letting the girl you love know that you actually love her you should hit her with your shoe. That will really get the message across."

"Wilson I think you've got a few screws loose," Scorpius said through gritted teeth.

"You know what, I don't think I do. You want to know why?" Nora asked with a smile as she stopped in front of Malfoy, who was looking anywhere but at her. Al filed in beside her.

"No."

"Too bad, you're going to hear what I have to say," Nora said firmly, "you may have everyone else fooled about being a huge ass and hating every Potter or Weasley and all those who associate with them, but I'm not like everyone else. Al isn't either. You see, I see things and hear things no one else does. Now that may sound crazy to you but it really isn't to me, since I have learned a few things. I'm going to list them and you are going to look at me while I do."

Scorpius snorted in defiance. "Look at me," Nora ordered in an unearthly voice and Scorpius' head turned involuntarily.

"Nora," Al said with a warning tone.

"Everything's fine Al," Nora reassured, "now where were we. Oh yes, my list. This is what I have learned just from watching you from time to time over the past month and a half. You are cold and distant because that is much more easy then admitting you have certain forbidden feelings about a lot of things. You do not like you girlfriend at all. She's just there as an excuse or to be a part of your elaborate lie of a life. Your are absolutely in love with Rose and I know you know that and you would give anything to not be haunted by the sins that go along with your last name."

Scorpius' face was blank and expressionless as he stared over Nora's head. Al was too busy gawking at him to say anything. Nora's hard expression softened slightly. For some reason, she felt for him. He looked lost and miserable, something Nora could easily relate to. "Luckily for you Malfoy, you are not a lost cause. Well, at least I don't think you are. When you stop living a lie you will realize that life is not as hard as you think it is and don't worry about your secrets. They're safe with us."

"They are?" Al asked, finally regaining his voice.

"Yes," Nora snapped. Malfoy still wasn't looking at her directly but she could see that something had snapped in that head of his and she nodded with satisfaction at her work. "Come on Al, I want to go see if Darren is making any moves on Rose."

"But-?"

"Come on," Nora said and she looked her arm around Al's and pulled him away from Malfoy, who was left alone in the echoing silence of the hallway.

* * *

A/N- We have learned quite a few things in this chapter about Nora and Scorpius. Also a little Nora/Al and Rose/Scorpius action as well. But not to worry, there are plenty more surprises yet to come in future chapters. Please read and review because I greatly appreciate your feedback.


	7. A Look Into The Past

Chapter 7- A Look Into The Past

Disclaimer- Harry Potter isn't mine, he belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

It was Nora's first trip to Hogsmeade and she could genuinely say she was excited. Not as excited as the third years who seemed to be peeing themselves in anticipation, but she was still excited. Nora was crammed into a carriage that should probably only be able to fit 4 people, but she was thankful for the close quarters, because it seemed that she had been wrong about fall in Scotland.

It was fucking freezing.

"Nora are you okay?" Alice asked tentatively, "you're shaking." Nora just grumbled angrily in response.

"Looks like someone isn't used to the cold," Andy said cheekily. Nora stuffed her mitten covered hands into her coat pockets. Not used to the cold was right. Halloween in Toronto just involved a light cool breeze and wearing a knit sweater. Here Halloween meant unexpected flurries and putting on layers.

"So what are we going to do once we get into town?" David asked.

"Well," Al responded, "we need to show Nora around a bit so a trip to Honeydukes, WWW and the Shrieking Shack are in order. Also, if anyone needs anything we have plenty of time to get a few things."

"And then once that's all through," Andy said with a pleased grin, "we're heading to the Three Broomsticks for a couple of free butterbeers."

"Ya, it sure pays to be best friends with the daughter of the owner," David said smoothly with a wink in Alice's direction. Alice began to blush furiously and she quickly directed her attention out the carriage window. Nora was impressed; David was usually about as smooth as sandpaper when it came to wooing girls. Maybe he was getting tips from Andy.

The carriage suddenly lurched to a stop and the door flung open with a loud bang, as if gesturing for them to get the hell out. The six of them tumbled out of the carriage ungracefully and the carriage turned around and began to go back in the direction they had come from.

"Bloody thestrals get so testy when they have to pull too much weight," Andy muttered.

"Thank Merlin we don't have to see the things," Rose said. Nora didn't comment on what Rose had said because she was currently watching the skeleton like horses with folded bat like wings around the carriage lot they were dropping all the students off in. It was always best to not inform anyone you could see thestrals, since it usually led to unwanted questions.

"I need a new quill you lot," Rose said suddenly, "Darren took my last good one." Nora turned her head to see Andy, Alice and David's shocked expressions. Al just chuckled knowingly.

"Why does White have your quill?" Andy asked in a confused tone.

Rose seemed to be frowning at the direction the conversation was going. "I've been studying with him," she said with irritation.

"What?" David and Andy chorused loudly, causing other students around them to peer in their direction. Nora and Al had been aware of Rose and Darren's study sessions because last weekend they were spying on them in the library together as a way of passing the time. Rose had studied rather diligently but all Darren seemed to do was study Rose very closely. Nora would swear on her mother's grave that she had even seen him salivate at one point.

"Why are you studying with Darren?" Alice asked, mouth gaping open. Rose just rolled her eyes and began to stomp away, forcing everyone to drop the subject.

* * *

Hogsmeade was every little bit a wizarding village. Nora stared in awe at the fact that she seemed to have stepped back into the early 19th century, only with drastic wizard touches. Each building seemed to be haphazardly thrown up in a way that screamed the only way I'm still standing is with countless different charms. There was a shop that was having a special on squid ink and a fat balding man was juggling ferrets in front of the pet store. Owls swooped down from every direction; heads swivelling in wince worthy directions. One man was hovering on his broom in front of his shop trying to put up some last minute Halloween decoration. Nora looked down the street to see that jack- o-lanterns with changing expression of happiness and terror lined the cobblestone road.

The group stopped in front of a store called Honeydukes Sweetshop and they quickly went inside to get out of the cold. What was inside the shop made Nora's stomach gurgle hungrily. The sweetshop was packed full of students who were salivating openly at the candy in front of them.

"Lovely, I can get some cockroach clusters while we're here," David said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Al made a gagging noise, while Andy looked at Dave in disgust. "That's bloody disgusting Dave."

Nora decided to ignore the fact that cockroach clusters - by the looks of things - had actual cockroaches in them. The variety of sweets in the shop was jaw dropping. Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans were in small and large colourful cardboard containers were stacked in a pyramid shape in the corner one of the shops corners. The store owners were giving out homemade fudge and peanut brittle to any student who wanted any. Various wizarding candies like acid pops, ice mice, sugar quills and Drooble's best blowing gum were in containers on a long redwood table along one side of the room along with various other things. Nora stared at the faces of the students around her. They all looked so innocent, so carefree. Nora's face fell slightly. What wouldn't she give away to be like that again?

"You want a liquorice wand Nora?" Al asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. "There's a two for one special."

Nora said yes, even though she wasn't quite sure what the hell a liquorice wand was. The candies in Canada were certainly a lot different. After everyone was done looking around and David had bought his cockroach clusters; much to the protest of everyone else, they left the shop.

"That's gross Dave," Rose said in repulsion.

"Ugh I think there's a leg sticking out of that one," Andy gagged.

The group continued to walk down the cobblestone street, when they stopped abruptly in front of a shop with the sign 'Scrivenshafts Quill Shop' in silver cursive writing.

"Ugh I hate quill shopping Rose," David moaned, "Do we honestly have to come in?"

"Oh stop being such a baby," Rose snapped while opening the door to the shop and walking in.

"What's so bad about quill shopping?" Nora said in confusion, directing her question at Al, "don't you just go in, grab one and leave."

"You'd think that would be all you need to do," Al muttered, "but Rose is mental when it comes to quills. They need to be the right weight, length, etc., if she is ever going to purchase one."

"Sounds like fun," Nora said sarcastically. Once inside Nora found her quill shopping experience more enjoyable then everyone else's due to the fact she was astonished at the number of quills that were available. There were jars of generic quills with different weight and height measurements on the sides of them. One wall was dedicated to a variety of quills in several different baskets pinned to the wall. Inside them were eagle quills, albatross quills, pheasant quills, snowy owl quills, raven quills, self-correcting quills, quills that wrote down what you were thinking, ink colour changing quills and so much more. By the cash there was a small barrel of brightly coloured peacock quills and in a pristine streak free glass case a fiery phoenix quill was resting on a pedestal, a 'not for sale' sign under it.

After a good thirty minutes of Rose picking out various types of quills and David moaning about how he was going to die from boredom, the group left the shop happy to finally be in the fresh air.

"Let's head to WWW and see if my uncle's there," Al offered.

They all meandered through the bustling hordes of people to a small shop with three gold W's on the front of it and underneath the words 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' etched in golden yellow scrawl.

"So, which one of Al's uncles owns this place?" Nora asked Alice.

"His uncle George," she whispered. "He's Roxy and Fred's dad. Also don't ask about who the twin is in the painting behind the cash. It makes Uncle George rather depressed."

Nora absorbed that bit of advice. Don't ask about the most likely dead or estranged twin, got it.

WWW could be described as a prankster's paradise. It literally had anything you could think of. There were stress balls, when squeezed, that would squirt ink in your face. Various types of homemade prank candies like ton-tongue toffees and puking pastilles that would literally give you a huge tongue or make you wretch for days. Lining the east wall of the shop were several rickety shelves filled with chattering teeth, fake large spiders and books on how to prank you family and get away with it. Nora looked over to a corner of the busy shop to see pink smoke floating from a section with a sign that read 'Love Potions: Why Wait for True Love?' Several fourth year girls were giggling maniacally while eyeing Al, who wasn't paying any attention to them.

"There always trying to slip Al love potions," Rose said, lips pursed distastefully.

"Doesn't he care?" Nora asked in shock. Back at her old school she had been slipped a love potion by a third year, when she was in her fourth year. After making out with the kid, people realized she wasn't acting herself and she was given an antidote. Nora then proceeded to hex him so badly that he was unable to sit down for a good week.

"Oh he cares," Alice said, as she played with a bright pink pygmy puff who was rolling around in a glass cage. "He just knows what his drink looks like when it has been tampered with now, so its loads harder to get him."

Nora's thoughts of Al constantly checking his drink for tampering were interrupted by a loud emphatic voice.

"Oi! Well if it isn't some more of my wonderful nieces and nephews!" Nora turned to see a stocky man with thick graying red hair, a smattering of freckles and (much to Nora's surprise) only one ear, with his arms spread wide behind the cash at the back of the store. He was wearing a large lovable smile and his bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief. Nora knew that this had to be Uncle George. Nora's attention was diverted, however, by the large painting in the back of the shop of two young red headed twins, who were winking at customers and telling jokes. They both had the same mischievous eyes as the man standing in front of her.

_"Uncle Fred I presume?"_ Nora thought sadly.

"Uncle George," Al said loudly as they embraced each other in a quick hug.

"Hullo Rosie," George said with a wink in her direction and Rose scowled slightly before striding forward and giving her uncle a hug. "How have you two been?"

Al replied with a simple 'great' but Rose seemed determined to make a point.

"My life would be brilliant Uncle George," she said frostily, her eyes shrinking into angry slits, "if I didn't have to constantly confiscate dungbombs and other various disgusting objects, since all the students in Hogwarts seem to get them from here."

Much to Nora's surprise, Uncle George began to laugh some more and he embraced Rose in another large hug. "Blimey Rosie. You become more like your mum every day." Uncle George looked away from his niece and nephew to look at David, Alice and Andy who had gathered around them. Nora held back; she had never been very good with adults, especially since all the one's she knew thought she belonged in a mental institution.

"Good to see you all again," Uncle George said with a smile.

"Likewise," Andy said with a grin, shaking the older man's hand. Nora got the distinct impression that Andy wanted to be exactly like Uncle George some day.

"Uncle George," Al said suddenly, "you haven't met Nora." Al broke away from the group only to drag her in. Nora panicked slightly. She hated adults; she had never been good at being nice and polite. Nora came face to face with Uncle George whose eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"So this is your new friend," Uncle George said with mild curiosity. "Well Al, all I can say is that you sure know how to pick 'em."

Rose snorted behind Nora and Al flushed slightly. "She's not my girlfriend Uncle George, just our friend." Nora noticed how Al had stressed the words 'our friend' and did her best to put on one of her most charming smiles while – for some unknown reason – her insides churned angrily at his response.

"Nora Wilson," she said, extending her hand in greeting.

"George Weasley," he replied, shaking her hand firmly. "Owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes but I'm sure you figured that out. Neville has told me that you are a very talented witch."

"Yup," Nora said lamely.

"Damn shame you're not from the UK. You from the states?"

"Canada," she replied automatically.

"Well that's a relief," George said with a sigh, "thought you might be some young American bird. They're ruddy full of themselves. Anyway, Andy my good man, how has your school year been?"

The next half hour was spent with Nora thanking Merlin and Circe that Uncle George didn't go into detailed question about her life back at home, the guys retelling stories of past pranking exploits and Rose tapping her foot impatiently on the wood floor. The group bid Uncle George a few good-byes before heading down the cobblestone main street towards a dirt road that branched away from the village.

As the group walked down the beaten road, Nora managed to get Al alone to ask him a few questions.

"So what happened to your uncle's twin?" Nora asked softly, not wanting to let the others overhear their conversation.

"He died."

Nora cringed slightly at how blunt his answer was. "How?" she asked tentatively.

"It's not really a conversation our family likes to get into," Al said frostily and then sighed when he saw Nora's offended face. "He died during the war against Voldemort the second time around. He was killed by some death eaters who blew apart one of Hogwarts hallways."

"That's rough," Nora said honestly.

"Ya, I never knew him or anything but I've been told he was exactly like Uncle George, so I guess I sort of got to know him."

"Hmm."

"Loads of people died back then. My dad's godson Teddy, he's dating my cousin Victoire, his parents were killed in that battle too. He did have his grandmum though and my dad, so he was never completely alone," Al rambled but Nora let him continue. Talking about death was never going to get easy. "My dad told me once that he would always be there for Teddy because he never wanted to put him through what he had gone through as a kid. Which was basically neglect and not knowing what it was like to be loved."

Nora was silent. Harry Potter had, had about the same childhood as hers, but just from a different scenario. "Been there," Nora muttered and Al's head shot up to look at her. He seemed about to ask her a question but he was interrupted by Alice's shriek ahead of them.

"Andrew Goss! You insufferable idiot! Why did you do that? You know I hate coming here!" Alice shrieked as Andy roared with laughter. Rose looked thoroughly exasperated, while David looked torn between consoling Alice and laughing along with Andy. Nora then looked past them to see what she presumed was the Shrieking Shack.

And what a shack it was.

It seemed that most of the shingles on the roof had fallen off over the years, along with all the window shutters, the door – which was now just a piece of plywood – and the chimney, which lay in a giant heap of rubble on the left side of the building. Every single window was either cracked or missing, there was a large hole the size of a cabinet through the bottom floor wall and the house seemed to be leaning to the right for some reason.

"You know," Andy said, squinting at the dilapidated shack, "they should really fix this place up."

"I agree," Nora said, "this is my first time seeing the thing and I'm more afraid of this place falling over then hearing deranged spirits wailing from it in the middle of the night."

"Ya ya, we all know this place could use a fix," Al said as he walked closer to the fence surrounding the house. "But this place has loads of history. I doubt they'd ever fix it up."

"What kind of history?" Nora asked, curiosity beginning to bubble in her stomach.

"Ask Rosie; she's the expert on Hogwarts history," Al said pointing a finger at his cousin.

"Story time again?" Rose asked as she sat down on a chair shaped rock by the fence surrounding the shack. Everyone else took a seat as well, mainly on other boulders while David hopped onto the fence.

"You guys seem oddly nonchalant for a group of kids surrounding a scary haunted house," Nora said as she sat down on a flat rock beside Alice.

"That's because it's not haunted," Andy said smugly.

Nora frowned. "Then why does it say on the sign at the end of the road 'most haunted building in Britain'."

"Sh!" Rose said tartly, "I will explain in a second." Rose proceeded to give everyone a hard look, instantly shutting everyone up. "Lovely, so I will begin this history lesson at the beginning."

"You're going to tell her when it was built?" Alice said in confusion.

"No Alice," Rose snapped, "when the Marauders were at Hogwarts, which was in the 70's by the way. So in the Marauders first year rumours began to circulate that the Shrieking Shack was haunted because sometimes at night you could hear horrible noises coming from it. The rumours escalated to the point where no one would ever go near the house, for fear of being attacked by the murderous ghost within."

"Who were the Marauders?" Nora asked.

"They were a group of four blokes who went around terrorizing the school with pranks and getting whatever girl they wanted. Their names were Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter." Nora looked over at all with a questioning gaze; Al just shrugged slightly and mouthed the word 'grandfather' to her before gesturing for her to continue listening to Rose.

"So back to the shack, since no one would go near the shack they never figured out that it wasn't a ghost making all the noise in the shack, but an adolescent werewolf attending Hogwarts. His name was Remus Lupin."

"Huh?" Nora exclaimed but Rose ignored her and prattled on with her story.

"Well the rest of Lupin's friends all soon figured out what he was up to every month and instead of turning on him, they vowed to help him," Rose recited in a way that made it sound as if she was reading from a book. Nora couldn't help but be enthralled. Stories about werewolves and conspiracies were just like the drama she had already experienced in her own life.

"The three blokes worked together and by their fifth year, they became unregistered animagus', after learning that Lupin would not harm them if they were in an animal form. They were then able to join Lupin, making his transformations throughout the rest of their days at Hogwarts.

Nora's eyebrows were raised in astonishment. Al's grandfather was an unregistered animagus? And Teddy Lupin was half werewolf. Bloody hell, there was enough drama in this family to supply a gossip magazine for a good year.

"What else has happened in there?" Nora asked.

"My dad found out that Peter Pettigrew betrayed his parents to Voldemort in there," Al commented with a frown.

"And that Sirius Black – uncle Harry's godfather - was framed for their murder and had to spend twelve years in Azkaban for it," Rose said with a smile. Nora stared at her. Rose liked history far too much.

"Anything else?" Nora asked, a little afraid of what she was going to hear.

"Um, well, Uncle Harry witnessed Severus Snape, the bloke Al is named after, being murdered in there by Voldemort's snake. And then when he went to go help him Snape gave him memories from his past that showed Uncle Harry that Snape loved his mum for literally his entire life, and that it caused him a lot of pain and guilt to look into Harry's eyes and see the eyes of the woman he loved. He was so guilty because he actually had a part in her death when he told Voldemort about the prophecy of Lily and James Potter being the parents of the child who would destroy Voldemort."

Nora's mouth gaped open. "All of that happened in there," she said, pointing in the direction of the house.

"Well not the prophecy stuff but everything else, yes," Rose said with a pleasant smile.

"I think the last bit is so romantic," Alice gushed. "Snape was always tortured by the woman he could never have and Harry Potter was a constant reminder of all the mistakes he had made in his life."

"I think it's creepy as hell," Andy said bluntly, "he would stare into a student's eyes – who was also a bloke – and see the woman he loved? Makes him sound like some kind of pedophile.

"I agree mate," David said from where he was perched on the fence, "and from what I've heard Snape was a slimy git to your dad Al."

The only thing Nora could think about, as she watched Alice's cheeks puff up in indignation, was that David was obviously not getting very good advice on how to get on a girls good side. And that he was an idiot.

"Well David, I don't think you could ever understand what love is, even if it ran around naked in front of you with a sign explaining what it actually was," she huffed angrily and began to stomp down the dirt path toward Hogsmeade; muttering obscenities along the way.

Rose gave an exasperated sigh. "I'll go after her. You guys meet us in the Three Broomsticks."

David blinked in surprise as the group watched Rose jog off after Alice. "What the bloody hell was that all about?"

Nora got up off her boulder and walked over to David, ready to knock some sense into his thick skull.

"Dave?" she said sweetly as she leaned up against the fence David was sitting on.

"Ya?"

With out any warning, Nora brought both arms back and then pushed forward; connecting directly with David's chest. David gave an undignified grunt as he fell backwards off the fence and fell with a moan of pain on the ground in a heap.

"Are you dense!" she exclaimed. "You always always always agree with any girl you like!"

David scrambled to his feet and let out a breath of anger as he towered over Nora. Merlin how tall was he? "What the ruddy hell is going on!" he bellowed, meanwhile Andy and Al were rolling on the ground, pissing themselves laughing.

"What do you mean what's going on? You like Alice – she likes you. You should be wooing her and charming her, and what you just did was not wooing.

"Wha-?" David said in a surprised voice, rubbing a hand through his hair. Al and Andy began to laugh even harder.

"What the bloody hell is so funny?" she said, rounding on them.

"Poor Dave," Andy snorted, "what a way for him to find out."

"Find out what?" Nora said in frustration.

"That Alice likes him," Al spluttered.

Nora's face went from annoyed to shocked in a second. "He didn't know that?" she said in awe.

"Nope," Andy said with a grin. Nora looked back at David, who was staring at the forest surrounding the Shrieking Shack as if it were a candy land; a dopey smile plastered on his bright red face.

"Oh."

* * *

A/N- So this chapter was necessary because Nora need to be told these things even though most people already know them. I guarentee that the next chapter will be much more exciting in the drama department and there will be lots of Rose/Scorpius and Nora/Al. But until then please read and review, since it is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!


	8. Meltdown

Chapter 8-Meltdown

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine so please do not sue me.

* * *

It took ten minutes before David snapped out of his rainbow fantasy land and even then he was still slightly incoherent.

"She likes me?" David asked in a far away voice.

"Yes Dave," Nora said in an exasperated tone, "for the tenth time, she likes you."

"She likes me," he said dreamily.

However David's mood quickly changed as they approached the Three Broomsticks.

"I can't go in there," David said, clearly beginning to panic.

"Why?" Andy said in disbelief.

"What do I say to her?" Dave questioned frantically.

"What you usually do," Andy replied, "how are you, what have you been up to, can I borrow your transfiguration notes?"

"But I can't talk to girls I like!" David exclaimed.

"You just talked to her twenty minutes ago," Nora said in exacerbation.

"Listen Dave," Al said gripping David's shoulder firmly, "just act the way you always do with her since she already likes you. Now all you have to do is keep being nice, flirt a little and get some lessons later from Andy on being charming. Girls love that stuff."

Nora tried to remember the last time she thoroughly enjoyed a guy purposefully hitting on her, while containing the urge to faint, but she kept her mouth shut as they walked into the Three Broomsticks.

The pub was bustling with activity as the group of friends walked inside. Dozens of Hogwarts students were crammed into booths or around bar tables, all laughing and talking loudly.

"Oi you lot," Andy announced, "I see Alice and Rose at our booth in the back."

They made their way through the hordes of people to a large sized circular booth at the back of the pub, to see Rose grinning happily in her seat, Alice looking slightly nervous in her seat and six butterbeers; one for each of them on the table top.

"How the hell did you get the back booth you two?" Al asked as he slid in to the booth after Andy.

"I'm the daughter of the pub owner remember," Alice said with a smile, "come sit next to me David." Alice patted the spot next to her and Al and Nora exchanged looks as she slid in next to Al.

Rose was still grinning happily. "Alice tell them how we got the booth."

"Well," Alice blushed, "people were already sitting her when we got here and I told them to move."

"Ugh that's not how it went," Rose said unhappily, "I'll tell you myself. So we get here and we find none other than Malfoy, Zabini and there entourage of idiots sitting here. So Alice was like you're in our spot and Zabini practically snarls who says Longbottom, I don't see your name it. And then Alice said last time I checked my mother's name was on the piece of paper that owns this place. So unless you want to be sitting outside, I suggest you move."

"And they moved?" David asked in astonishment.

"Ya," Rose said gleefully, "guess they weren't used to Alice's aggressive side. You should have seen Zabini's face as Malfoy forced her out of the booth."

"Where are they now?" Nora asked.

Rose pointed over their heads towards a table surrounded by seven people, instead of the two, maybe three, it was supposed to fit. Malfoy was wearing a far away expression as he looked over at their table and Zabini looked as if she were trying to murder them with dirty looks.

"Nora," Al whispered in her ear, "this would be a great time to find out what Malfoy's thinking."

Nora bit her lip as she looked at Malfoy. She had been practising her telepathy recently with Al and she had gotten a lot better at it.

"What are you guys whispering about?" Andy asked and Nora just grinned at him nervously.

"Nothing, but I'm going to go to the washroom, be back in a sec."

Nora hurried off in the direction of the bathrooms. Once she reached the small back area of the pub – where the washrooms were located – she ducked behind a very large plant. She was not about to just stand randomly in the middle of the pub with her eyes closed in concentration.

She parted the leaves of the plant and peered through looking for Malfoy. After a good deal of shifting around where she was crouching, Nora was able to get a good view of Malfoy's sullen face.

"Someone really needs to cast a good cheering charm on this guy," Nora muttered to herself, as she began to concentrate on the image of Malfoy's face. It was a bit harder then it usually was with all of the surrounding noise. When Al and her practiced they were usually sitting outside under a very old oak tree by the lake, or if it wasn't nice out, inside of an empty class room. Either way it was never with this many people around.

Nora concentrated harder on the image of Malfoy's face and the feeling of entering his mind. She felt a slight twinge of pain but ignored it when she heard the familiar pop as she entered into Malfoy's mind. For some reason unknown to Nora Malfoy's mind felt like she had entered into a meat packing freezer and she was longing for the warmth of her coat. But she was suddenly barraged by one of Malfoy's thoughts, distracting her from the chill of his mind.

"_How can I like her? Of all the people to have feelings for it had to be her_," Malfoy thought icily. Nora was surprised by the anger and frustration Malfoy was projecting but then she remembered that Malfoy's and Weasley's went together like pickles and peanut butter. _"Bloody hell does Tatiana ever_ _shut up? I'll just keep ignoring her." _Nora snorted at his comment.

_"I wish things were different. I wish I didn't have this bloody last name or Weasley would be less infuriating. Everything she says about me makes me want to punch a fucking wall, while the rest of this lot I could care less about what they say. I don't -."_

Malfoy was cut off mid rant when Nora let out a squeak of surprise upon feeling a hand on her shoulder. She whipped her head around to see an older wizard with a very crooked nose staring at her in bewilderment.

"Miss – what are you doing down there?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Er-I'm hiding," Nora attempted.

"Hiding from what?"

Nora awkwardly stood up and looked around the pub hoping someone would hold up a sign with a good excuse written on it.

"I'm hiding...from a guy," she said with a pause. "Yes, a guy."

The man's eyes became a pair of questioning slits, as if scrutinizing her facial expression would bring some much needed logic to the situation. "Why are you hiding from a boy?"

Who was this guy, Mr. 20 Questions? "Umm... he's stalking me you see. I turned him down and he has been following me everywhere. So I have been hiding," Nora paused awkwardly as she looked around her, "behind this plant."

Another pause and the man blinked in confusion.

"Well I best be off," she said hurriedly and scurried away from the man's look of astonishment.

When she got back to the table she saw Alice visibly cuddling up to David, who looked like he was shaking from nerves. Andy and Rose were having an in depth argument and Al seemed to be waiting for her to return.

"Back," she announced, mostly to Al; who perked up once he saw her.

"So how did it go?" he whispered urgently.

"All I'm going to tell you is that Malfoy has got it bad," she said with a grin.

Al was about to say something when Andy began to speak loudly. "You can't expect me to drop the fact that you're studying with White, Rose. I thought you couldn't stand him."

"Just drop it Andy," she snapped loudly.

"Oh come on. Al, don't you want to know why Rosie is having study sessions with Darren White of all people?"

"Er-yes?"

"There you go Rosie," Andy declared as if Al's questionable answer proved a point. Again Nora didn't say anything. "So spill Rosie and I promise to tell you a deep dark secret of my own...once I get one."

Rose glowered at him but she sighed when she saw that everyone at the table was now paying attention to their conversation.

"Oh for the love of Circe," she said angrily, "fine, I like studying with him because he makes me feel good."

Al's eyes widened and he began to open his mouth to protest, when Nora stopped him. "She meant he makes her feel good about herself Al."

"Oh."

Rose just stared unhappily down at the table. "He just makes me feel like I'm not average, boring or ugly. It's not like I fancy him or anything but I'm just not used to guys wanting me for anything other than charms notes. Alice is the nicest sweetest girl in our year and Nora," Rose stopped and Nora raised a brow, "well you're just every guy's fantasy."

"It is true," Andy said, agreeing with Rose.

Nora knew what had triggered these feelings. Her conversation with Malfoy a couple weeks ago had obviously left a mark. Good job Malfoy. Way to woo the girl of your dreams.

Nora was snapped out of her thoughts when Al began nudging her frantically in the side as Alice reassured Rose that she was in no way plain or ugly.

"What?" she hissed in annoyance.

"Malfoy heard what Rose said," he said quickly. Nora turned to see the face of the saddest sixteen year old guy she had ever seen. He looked as if someone had just shot his pet dog right in front of him and then laughed hysterically about it.

"How?" she whispered.

"He walked by."

She gaped. "I should read his mind," Nora offered.

"Whoa, wait a second. You shouldn't if you're tired. When we practice we're not around a lot of people," Al said worriedly.

"I did it before, so I'll be fine now," Nora said impatiently. "Do you want to know what he's thinking or not?"

Al gave her a dirty look. "Fine. Just do it."

Nora looked around her to see everyone else at the table busy comforting Rose. They wouldn't notice if she was occupied or not.

"I'll do it here," she said to Al, "cover me."

Before Al could protest Nora turned to look in Scorpius' direction and began to concentrate. It was harder this time. Much harder. Either she was tired from before or everyone in the pub was louder this time around. Still, she concentrated. Her brain began to throb slightly but like before she brushed the feeling aside.

She felt the familiar pop as she entered into Scorpius' frigid mind only to feel an overwhelming feeling of despair wash over her.

_"What have I don_e?" she heard Malfoy think faintly, while Nora's concentration began to slip. She began to panic, not having felt this feeling before, and she concentrated much harder.

The next thing Nora knew was Malfoy yelling out loudly in pain and her eyes snapping open, mind still connected to his. Malfoy was clutching his head as his friends asked him what was wrong. Oh shit! Nora gave one horrified look in his direction as she tried to sever her connection to his mind.

"Nora what's wrong?" Al said faintly, his voice muffled as if he were standing on the opposite side of a door and talking to her through it. Nora pulled harder to get away; her mind beginning to scream in pain. She began to concentrate harder in a new attempt to get out of Malfoy's head but something much worse happened. All of a sudden there was a loud echoing crack that reverberated through her head, silence and then head splitting pain.

Nora toppled off the bench and on to the floor; her head was throbbing so badly that she felt tears roll down her face. Then the voices came rushing into her mind.

_"What time is it?"_

_"Why won't he talk to me?"_

_"I could really go for a bowl of soup right about now."_

_"I hate work. I'm quitting, I swear I will."_

_"I wonder if I can nick some firewhiskey and bring it up to the castle for tonight."_

Each different voice was like a skewer being dug into her mind, each time it went deeper and deeper to the point where it felt as if they were digging out parts of her brain.

"Nora!" she heard Al's distant voice cry. More voices entered her mind and she groaned loudly in pain.

_"Is that girl drunk?"_

_"Hey is that Wilson on the ground?"_

_"Looks like that girl is having a fit."_

_"Oh my god Nora!"_

Nora peeled her eyes open only to see several people surrounding her with identical faces of panic and worry but she quickly closed them with a moan when the world began to spin out of control.

Next thing Nora knew she was off the floor and in someone's arms; quickly being carried out of the pub. She barely heard the tinkle of the bell on the door and she was slightly shocked by the blast of cold air that washed over her body.

"Nora! What's wrong?" she heard Al say frantically as he sat her down on a hard surface.

Before she could respond, she doubled over in pain, as even more voices pierced her mind.

_"Bloody hell it's freezing out here."_

_"How should I propose to her?"_

_"Maybe buying this many dungbombs was over kill."_

_"Ugh if I get dragged into another store to shop for shoes, I am going to throttle her."_

It became too much. With those last few voices her head felt as though it was being split open and stars exploded across her vision. She leaned forward and threw up; not caring where she aimed.

Nora felt strong hands grip her arms firmly as they pushed her upright. "Nora, what's wrong?" Al said in a slow terrified voice.

"Th-the voices," she stuttered. Pain shot through her mind and she groaned. "The voices w-won't stop."

"What do you mean?" Al said.

Before she could answer the pain began to change into something different. Instead of just feeling excruciating pain, she began to feel pressure pushing up against the inside of her skull. A pressure she had felt once before. Right before the explosion that got her kicked out of the Canadian Academy. Oh fuck no, this was not going to happen again.

"Al," she croaked.

"What is it?"

"Knock me out," she asked breathlessly.

"What?" Al said in confusion, letting go of her arms.

Nora felt the pressure building and she cracked open one of her eyes to see her hands glowing slightly. She gasped in fear. "Knock me out Al," she said more urgently.

"I can't do that Nora," Al said in a torn voice.

Nora groped out frantically in front of her and grabbed a hold of Al's shirt, jerking him towards her.

"Al!" she said in the loudest voice she could muster, "knock me out now or I'm going to hurt a lot of people!" She then toppled over on the surface she was sitting on, the pressure in her head beginning to leak out slowly.

She heard Al curse loudly as he pulled away from her. Then she heard a spell being muttered in Al's panicked low voice. Nora opened an eye to see a bright orange light rushing towards her and then everything went dark.

* * *

A/N- Cliffhanger!!! It would seem that Nora has bitten off a little more then she can chew. Also, Scorpius' feelings for Rose have been revealed and he is very angst ridden because of them. Anyway I will try to update quickly with the next chapter, so please read and review :)


	9. Migraines And Guilt Pains

Chapter 9- Migraine's And Guilt Pains

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine

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Nora woke up with her head throbbing. She groaned slightly as she opened her eyes to see where she was. By the looks of things, she was lying in one of the beds in Hogwarts hospital wing, curtains drawn around her in an attempt to shield her from the world. She tried sitting up, but quickly lay back down when her head began to throb some more. She was about to call for the Madam Penny, the nurse who ran the hospital wing whom she had met on her tour of Hogwarts on her first day, so she could give her something for her head, when she heard voices filter over to her from nearby.

"Her father said he didn't care what we did with her." A voice Nora recognized as Professor Longbottom's said sadly.

"Really," Professor Gale said in astonishment. Professor Gale was a sweet short old man who was the head of Hufflepuff and Nora's transfiguration professor.

"Miss. Wilson did not grow up in the most ideal environment for a child," Professor Monroe said curtly. Nora frowned, she wasn't sure if she liked that teacher's were discussing the relationship she had with her father.

"Well if we can do whatever we want with her I suggest we throw her out. She's obviously a danger to this entire school," Professor Stone said coldly. Nora was about to make her conscious presence known and complain, when someone else did that for her.

"What! You're not actually going to expel her are you?" Nora knew that voice. It was Al. Merlin she loved him and his unstoppable great guy attitude.

"No Mr. Potter we are not planning on expelling Miss. Wilson," Professor McGonagall reassured him but her voice became stern when she began to talk to Stone. "Carson, you and I both know that we have no grounds to expel Miss. Wilson for anything. There is more evidence to expel Mr. Potter, since he did stun Miss. Wilson."Nora almost started to laugh when she heard Al begin to splutter in his defence. "Mr. Potter, do not worry, we are not expelling you either. However we must ask you what happened at the Three Broomsticks that lead you to stun Miss. Wilson." Nora's eyes widened in realization. What if they found out she could use telepathy long before the incident in the pub.

"Well," Al hesitated, "it all happened so fast, so I'll try to remember as much as possible." Huh, what was that supposed to mean?

"Just try and remember as much as possible Al," Longbottom said informally, revealing for once how much he cared about Al. Al had told her once that he was apparently his godfather.

"Okay," Al said in a very fake thinking voice. Nora couldn't believe it. Al would never lie for her. "Well I mentioned to her that Malfoy was looking miserable as usual-not that there is anything wrong with that," Al added quickly when Nora heard a growl that had obviously come from Stone. "I also mentioned that it might have had something to do with something Rose had just said about him, since we have this theory about something completely unimportant to this present issue."

"What theory?" Stone questioned, but a few people told him to be quiet and for Al to keep going.

"After I told Nora that she said something like she wished she could read minds because she would love to know what he was thinking because she agreed with me," Al said in the most convincing voice he could probably ever use. Nora could not believe it; Al was lying to make sure she wouldn't get into any trouble. There was no denying it; she loved this boy more than anyone else in the world. Al continued with his story. "The next thing I knew Nora was on the ground, practically screaming in pain, so I got her out of there as fast as I could. Once we were outside she started mumbling about the fact that she couldn't get the voices out of her head and I needed to knock her out before she hurt someone again. So after she screamed at me to knock her out, I stunned her." There was silence and Nora bit her lip in anticipation. Please, please, please let them believe him.

She heard what sounded like Monroe clear her throat. "I believe he's telling the truth," she said in a tired voice, "it sounds like the proper reaction for someone who has just developed their telepathic abilities." Nora almost fist pumped the air in triumph but she realized she was supposed to be asleep so she kept her happiness to herself.

"I agree Cassandra," Gale added, "but there are some things to consider. For instance, there has never been a witch or wizard in recorded history that could use telepathy. Witches and wizards can use legilimency and some can have accidental magical bonds, but these forms of mind reading only deal in seeing memories and experiencing the other persons emotions. No one has ever been able to hear exactly what a person is thinking at any given time." Nora glowered at the ceiling. If they wanted to put her in some sort of laboratory for testing, she was out of here for sure.

"But let's consider the fact that we already know that Miss. Wilson can use telekinesis to her advantage. Why should we rule out her ever developing the ability to use telepathy," Longbottom said wisely.

"I agree with you Neville on that point," McGonagall said, "we all know how special Miss. Wilson truly is. However, are you sure Mr. Potter that the incident at the pub is the only time Miss. Wilson displayed telepathic abilities?" Oh no, that didn't sound good.

"From what I can remember over the past 2 months, yes," Al answered smoothly and Nora smiled.

"He's lying," Stone snapped, "I've been watching him scurrying about with Wilson and believe me they looked like they were up to no good."

"Oh for Merlin's sake Carson, you think everyone is up to no good," Longbottom said in exasperation.

"Well if the boy is telling the truth he should have no problem with Cassandra using legilimency on him," Stone spat angrily."

"Stone are you thinking clearly," Monroe said angrily, "I cannot just go up to any student and force myself into their head. I need permission from a superior, their parents and especially from them. Do you have any clue how much trouble I would get into if just took a look into Harry Potter's sons head without going through the proper channels?" Nora felt a ball of guilt settle into the pit of her stomach. She definitely had not asked for Malfoy's permission when she had gone ploughing into his mind.

"I don't mind," Al said quietly that Nora almost didn't hear him. What! Yes you do mind Al! You really really mind if she uses legilimency on you!

"See the boy doesn't mind," Stone barked.

"I still need parental consent and the all clear from a superior," Monroe hissed icily.

"Well if we are going to put all doubt to rest I give my consent to look through Mr. Potter's thoughts," McGonagall said wearily, "and I already have sufficient consent from his father from when I talked to him earlier." No, no, no! This could not be happening!

"There you go Cassandra, go ahead and looked through the boys memories," Stone said gruffly. Nora sat up slightly. Not if she could help it she wouldn't. Nora ignored the pain that lanced through her head as soon as she began to focus on Al's familiar mind. She was going to use what little she knew about actual legilimency to her advantage. The pain was still there but it was definitely a lot less bad than in the pub, so she gritted her teeth as she pushed into Al's mind. She felt the familiar pop and then all the sounds around her became muffled. She was in his head. _'Oh shit,_ _she's actually going to go through my memories. What the hell am I going to do?'_

That thought penetrated Nora's head like a nail being fired from a nail gun and she winced at the pain. Just focus Nora, just focus. Nora quickly began to sift through Al's memories. She found memories of their practise sessions, their discussions about her telepathy and when she told him she could use telepathy and she did the first thing that popped in her head. She blocked them from anyone's view.

"Now Al you may feel some pressure when I enter your mind," Monroe said in a muffled voice, which Nora heard. Shit! Nora sifted through Al's memories as fast as she could, very much aware that she was exhausted, and found the memory from the Three Broomsticks and she began to alter it. Instead of Al telling her to read Malfoy's mind the first time, she erased it to look like she just went to the bathroom. The second time he asked her to read his mind, she changed it to make it to resemble the story Al had just told the professor's. The pain in Nora's head was getting worse but she pushed any worry about that aside. She had a mission to do. She felt Monroe's presence enter Al's head and Nora quickly let go of the memory of the pub and hid in the back corners of his mind, hoping to Merlin that Monroe wouldn't notice her presence.

Nora watched as Monroe's subconscious, which looked like a white tiger, sifted through Al's thoughts. That was interesting; apparently different people's subconscious's actually looked like something. Nora could have jumped up and down in joy when Monroe's subconscious completely overlooked the memories that Nora had blocked from anyone's view and nervously watched her subconscious pick Al's memory from the pub to view.

Nora watched as Monroe's subconscious watched the newly altered memory and Nora hoped she had caught everything that could have given away that Al had known about her telepathic tendencies before she had, had her mental breakdown. Once the memory reached her meltdown, Monroe let go of it and left Al's mind. Nora thankful for finally being able to leave quickly vacated Al's mind.

She was panting like she had run a race and the pain was excruciating. Nora covered her mouth with her arm to muffle the sound of her laboured breathing. Then Nora heard Monroe clear her throat. "He was telling the truth," she said softly and Nora began to smile like an idiot. She had done it; she had used legilimency for the first time and used it well. Most people would find that impossible, in fact it probably was, but she could care less. She had avoided expulsion and life was great.

"Good," Longbottom said with a sigh of relief.

"Yes, this is excellent," McGonagall said in relief as well, "but I would like you Cassandra to teach Miss. Wilson how to control her telepathy."

"I am not telepathic though Minerva," Monroe said in confusion. Nora couldn't help but notice that her voice seemed slightly far away. Had she noticed her presence inside Al's head?

"I know that but you can teach her control, respect and how to control her temper; something this girl desperately needs at times." Nora huffed at the insult but she knew it was true.

"Alright Minerva, I shall help her," Monroe said accepting the offer to train her. Well those lessons should be interesting.

"Splendid, now that this has been taken care of, would anyone like to join me for some tea. I have become horribly parched from our conversation."

Each of the professors agreed to accompany McGonagall on a tea run and seemed to be walking away when Al began to speak again. "Professor," he said loudly.

"Yes Mr. Potter,"

"Would you mind if I stayed with Nora a bit more?" he asked. Nora found herself smiling like an idiot for some reason.

"You may Mr. Potter; just don't tell Madam Penny I let you. I would hate to get on that woman's bad side."

"Sure professor," Al said with a chuckle. Nora watched as Al's silhouette waved the professor's goodbye and as soon as she heard the door click shut, he dashed over to her bed. Nora watched as the curtains flew open around her bed to reveal a very haggard looking young man. Nora looked at him in bewilderment. Al didn't seem fazed at all from seeing her awake, as he turned his back to her and closed the curtain surrounding the bed sharply. "I knew you were awake," he whispered hoarsely.

"How?" she questioned, still a bit taken aback by his worn appearance.

"The fact that one moment my memory of your breakdown in the pub was nothing like what I told the professors and then all of a sudden it was. You have no idea how confused I looked when that happened. I had to pretend I was just uncomfortable with someone like Monroe poking around in my head," he said wearily. "I thought you couldn't use legilimency."

"I'm gifted Al, I can do any spell I want."

Al looked at her with a frown, the dark circles under his eyes becoming more noticeable. "You do realize very few wizards can use legilimency, much less can alter memories the way you did. Was that your first try?"

Nora pondered his question and bit her lip as she stared at his tired expression. "Yes."

"Merlin Nora, that's not normal," Al said in astonishment as he buried his head in his hands.

Nora did not like that comment. She didn't like it at all. "I'm aware I'm different Al, I've read the history books. Something like me has never existed." Nora felt a stab of pain rip through her head and she groaned in response.

"Are you okay," Al said with worry, as he grabbed a seat next to her and sat down.

"I'm fine," she grumbled, "just a bad headache." Comfortable silence passed between them as Nora listened to Al's slow deep breaths. It was oddly soothing and she felt some of the pain in her head subside. Nora looked over at Al who was staring at her intensely as if he was seeing her differently for the first time. "What time is it," she asked bringing him out of his trance.

"It's about midnight," he said tiredly as he leaned back in his chair.

"Really," she exclaimed and winced at a new sting of pain that passed through her head.

"Ya," Al said and then paused before speaking again, "how much does it hurt?"

"I told you, it's just a headache," she said stubbornly.

"Nora," he said in a tone she had never heard anyone use on her. It was a weary but strong voice that you knew that you had to obey or you would get in shit. It was the kind of tone her mom has used on her when she was being stubborn, the kind of tone her dad used to use on her before he stopped being her father. Before he blamed her for what happened to her mom.

"It hurts a lot," she answered back in a toneless voice as she turned her head away from him, trying to hide the tears threatening to come out of her eyes.

"Bollocks," Al muttered, "I'm such an idiot." His comment helped snap Nora out of her reverie and she looked back at him in shock.

"How are you the idiot?"

"Because I pushed you to it! I always have to know what's going on with other people, it's my weakness," he said bitterly.

"I could have easily not done it. Believe me Al; you didn't make me do anything. I'm stubborn; I wanted to prove to you that I was strong enough to do it. I wanted to prove it to myself," she said passionately.

Al looked up at her and sighed. "I still shouldn't have been so eager."

"Sure, I agree with you there but you didn't make me do anything," Nora said reassuringly, "I'm a big girl Al, I can think for myself."

Al nodded to show that he accepted her answer. "I know this is kind of stupid to ask, but did you even get in Malfoy's head before you went down?" Nora was confused for a second before she realized that Al had not noticed her hurt Malfoy. He had no idea whether or not she had actually got into his head. Nora thought about what Monroe had said before about getting permission before entering another person's mind and she felt the ball of guilt in her stomach turn over uncomfortably. "No, no I didn't," she lied, not looking in Al's direction.

"Wonderful," Al said cynically, "you landed yourself in the hospital wing for nothing."

"But I still know what he said from the first time I read his mind," she said, trying to cheer him up. She hated seeing him beat himself up like this. He had become her best friend here at Hogwarts, she didn't want to be the reason he was so upset. "And believe me he is the most miserable son of a bitch in the world. Also, he thinks Zabini's a pain in the ass."

Al snorted and gave her a weary smile. Nora smiled back; there was the Al she loved. "He really thought that?"

Nora lifted a hand and made a cross over her heart. "Cross my heart."

"Wow he's got it bad huh," Al said with a smile.

"Yup."

"By the way," Al said, "you owe me."

Nora looked at him in surprise. "For what?"

"Well one, I saved you from flipping out in the middle of the Three Broomsticks. Two, I dragged your unconscious ass back up to the castle and three, you puked on my shoes. So over all, you owe me big time," he said with a grin.

Nora's mouth was hanging open in astonishment at his comment. That bastard! Nora quickly grabbed her pillow and threw it at Al as hard as she could in her present situation. Although the pillow did not hit Al, he did topple over in his chair when he managed to duck away from the soft projectile and was now splayed across the floor, with Nora laughing rather loudly, hurting her head again.

"Who's in here?" a woman's voice said, echoing off the walls of the hospital wing.

"Bloody hell," Al muttered as he scrambled to his feet. Nora was smothering her laughter into her newly retrieved pillow. Nora heard the quick footsteps of the woman coming towards her bed and Al looked frantically at her hoping she would have a hiding place available for him to hide in. Unfortunately it was too late. Nora, still laughing, watched as the curtains around her bed were pulled open to reveal a chubby, short, rosy-cheeked older woman with grey hair pulled into a messy bun staring daggers at Al who looked like a deer caught in headlights. Hello Madam Penny.

"What exactly are you doing here?" she screeched. "Miss. Wilson needs her rest, not some silly boy coming in here and bothering her!"

"But I-," Al spluttered.

"No buts! Get out immediately!" Nora was practically falling over from laughing so hard and the fact that her head seemed to be on fire from the pain. Al gave her a glare.

"Remember you owe me," he said quickly before quickly dashing past Penny who tried to swat at him on his way past her. Nora couldn't help but smile as she heard the door shut loudly, signalling his exit.

"Boys these days," Penny muttered angrily as she walked over to the side of Nora's bed. "Does your head hurt dear?"

"A bit," she said with a smile.

Penny pulled out a vial of some sort of potion from her smock and a cup. "This will put you straight to sleep," she said softly as she poured the dark blue liquid into the cup. She handed it to Nora, who quickly downed it. Penny took the glass from her and wished her goodnight before hurrying off. Nora settled into her bed as she felt the sleeping draught begin to take effect. Nora smiled sleepily. Al had to be the only guy to ever treat her like she was a regular girl. He didn't slobber all over her or was terrified of her like most guys. He just treated her like any other teenage girl. She yawned and closed her eyes, as sleep began to claim her.

He treated her like she was normal... and she liked it.

* * *

A/N- All together now. AWWEEEE. Decided to end chapter 9 on a much lighter note with a bunch of Al/Nora fluffiness. Anyway I wil continue to update quickly and please read and review since I love to read what you the readers have to say. Peace.


	10. A Lesson In Control

Chapter 10 – A Lesson in Control

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, so there is no need to sue me. Especially since I would not be able to give anyone money.

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November was turning out to be a great month for Nora. Alice had smartly started a rumour that Nora suffered from a rare migraine disorder that could affect her at any time, so no one thought she was psychotic.

Well, not more than they used to think she was.

Her relationship with Alice was definitely improving, since she seemed much less frightened of her after the Hogsmeade incident and was now coming to her for advice on how to flirt with the guy she liked. Which she still would not admit was David to anyone.

Quidditch practices were increased for the upcoming match at the end of November against Ravenclaw by the maniacal James, who was about ready to lose it.

"We will not lose this match! Does everyone understand! I will not lose to that rich bastard Ryan Gerard, because if we do, I may hang myself," James bellowed at his terrified team mates.

"He's finally gone off his rocker hasn't he?" Greyson whispered to Fred who nodded in agreement.

Nora smiled at the memory. She liked Greyson Wood. He was very cheeky and could never help but make some sort of remark about almost anything and he had a very easy going nature about him. He also had is signature lock of grey hair always hanging in his face, which was where he had gotten the nickname Grey. Not to mention the way he mooned over Lily was very entertaining. Right now Nora was waiting for Professor Monroe, who was busy taking care of 'secret' business, and was late for their regular training sessions every Wednesday and Saturday. Today was one of their Saturday sessions. Wednesday's sessions focused more on focusing her inner chi and learning how to follow orders. Basically Monroe was trying to teach her discipline and how to not blow up every time someone said she was a whore.

Saturday sessions were the ones she looked forward to. Monroe still was not aware of the full extent of her magical abilities, so she was currently teaching Nora how to use legilimency in the hopes of decreasing any need for her to use telepathy. Although, Monroe often allowed her to do simple mind reading exercises on her to find out what she was thinking about at a certain time. She had yet to get anything wrong.

Nora knew she should at least try and get something wrong but Monroe's calming air was enough to make anyone like her go mad and then forget to inhibit their secret abilities. Nora would try to ask questions about what Monroe had been doing before she came to Hogwarts, or if she knew any particularly strong or deadly spells, but all she would get for an answer would be 'Ms. Wilson focus on taking deep calming breaths and feel the tension in your body disappear.' Nora found that the relaxation exercises did improve her stress levels but they also made her not concentrate on appearing less experienced with her telepathy then she was supposed to be.

With extra pleading on her part, she was able to allow the teachers to let Al help her out with some of their own lessons, which Nora would have done in secret anyways but Al was too honourable to disobey the professors anymore. Stone was also watching them like he was a vulture circling its prey. Nora might have actually thought he was terrifying if she could actually take him seriously.

Nora heard the door knob turning to Monroe's office and she quickly sat up straight in the chair she had been lounging in. The door opened and Monroe glided into the room, a look of tranquility on her face. Nora had to admit, she looked as impressive as always. Today she was wearing midnight blue robes that hung close to her body and seemed to shimmer in the light. Her long black hair was swept up in a messy bun and violet coloured eyes seemed to emanate some sort of calming effect on the room, while her porcelain skin seemed to sparkle in the light.

"I am sorry to have kept you waiting Ms. Wilson," she said serenely, walking past Nora to sit in the large black velvet chair behind her desk. "But the tension between the Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's over the upcoming quidditch match caused a bit of a scuffle in the Great Hall."

Nora gave Monroe a sheepish grin and laughed nervously. "Well we all know how much everyone loves quidditch."

"Hmm," Monroe said as she looked at Nora in a scrutinizing way, "it seems it was instigated by a Gryffindor player commenting yesterday that Gerard flew like a girl but that, that was also an insult to every female quidditch player on the planet."

Nora instantly recalled the conversation she had had with Greyson and winced when she saw the look of disappointment on Monroe's face. "Oops."

"Yes, oops," Monroe said in disappointment, "maybe we should try more calming exercises today."

"Oh come on professor," Nora protested loudly, "it's in my nature to be competitive and loud and a bit of a bitch, I will admit. The calming exercises are not going to help that."

Monroe sighed impatiently. "Ms. Wilson, are you aware of what my profession was before I came to Hogwarts?"

Nora perked up slightly. "I've heard some stories."

"Well," Monroe said with a slight smile, "I worked very closely with Harry Potter when I was younger. He was a very good friend and before he became the head of the Auror Department we worked together as partners on several missions." Nora couldn't help but think of what Monroe looked like when she was 23, much less than now, which was 39. Mrs. Potter probably never liked her very much.

"However Harry and I had much different views on how to handle suspected murderers and the rest of the foul lot. I soon became far more interested in acting before I thought my actions through. So, at the age of 29 I was told that I was not right for the auror job anymore due to my drastic approach to law enforcement."

"Er- how drastic is drastic?" Nora asked cautiously. Monroe just ignored her and continued.

"I was not happy of course, so in retaliation I became something a bit more frowned upon. I became a hit-witch."

Nora was shocked by this bit of information. "You were a ministry hired assassin," she said in total disbelief.

"You seem surprised Ms. Wilson," Monroe said calmly, "is it the fact that you cannot grasp the thought of me killing someone without knowing what they have done wrong?"

"Merlin, you've killed people," Nora said in horrified astonishment.

"Yes," Monroe said, her voice laced with regret, "I have killed people and I got very good at doing it. Almost to the point where it drove me mad. Harry realized quickly that 3 years of me being used as a killing machine was taking a toll on my mind - especially after the time I blew up my own desk after a particularly hard day - and petitioned for my termination from the ministry."

"Were you mad."

"Oh yes," Monroe said with a frown. "But I wouldn't call it mad my dear, more like deranged."

"That bad huh?"

Monroe chuckled. "Well I ended up in the auror office and it took 5 grown men to keep me from ripping Harry's head off. After that I was quickly let go before the press could here word and sent to 's for psychological evaluation, at the young age of 32."

"Good one," Nora said eyes wide with shock.

"I was soon sent to a rehabilitation clinic for auror and hit-witch and wizard veterans. The psychologists taught me these calming exercises and how to control my temper, in hopes that I would one day learn not to take a man's head off, even if I am a little bit of a bitch." Nora quickly noted Monroe's reference to what she had just said about her conversation with Greyson and she let out a sigh.

"Do you now think less of me Ms. Wilson?" Monroe asked as calm as ever, as she conjured up a cup of tea and took a small sip.

Nora pondered her question. Monroe had obviously been through a lot herself. She had been an auror and then a hit-witch, where she was overworked to the point where she had a psychotic breakdown. Most people would have given up after that but Monroe was sitting in front of her sipping herbal tea as if she were some sort of Buddhist monk. She had made the effort to get better and it had worked. So why should anyone think less of her? "No," she answered honestly.

"You are one of the very few," Monroe said bitterly as she took another sip of her tea. "You were not in England when the wizarding community found out about me being hired as a professor here a few years back. The community thought I was a deranged lunatic who would get her revenge on Harry Potter's children the first chance I got. Fortunately for me McGonagall vouched for me the entire time and Harry managed to come to my defence as well. Only then did the wizarding community grudgingly allowed me to teach their children."

"But everyone loves you as a teacher."

"Lucky me am I right. That's one of the main reasons why I was never sacked after the first year. The students enjoyed my teaching methods and I was very good at being intimidating without raising my voice," she said with a slight smile.

"So do you talk to Mr. Potter much these days?" Nora asked.

"We exchange a few letters here and there," she said with a wave of her hand, "I'm never expecting to be invited over for tea though."

"Since you attacked him."

"No," Monroe said gulping down some tea, her lips forming into a secretive smile, "Ginerva Potter isn't very fond of me. You see when I was younger I was quite _friendly_." Nora raised an eyebrow at her professor. Of course she was.

"But back to the point of my story, I want to insure that what happened to me, does not happen to you," she said sternly.

"Professor I'm not going to become a crazed hit man when I get older, I promise."

Monroe sighed. "You do not understand how important you are yet. Imagine what the ministry would do to get you to be an auror or a hit-witch. You would be there secret weapon: the girl with more power than any other witch or wizard in history. Someone they dream of controlling."

Nora snorted in offense. "They could never control me."

"And that is something they do not realize yet," Monroe said in a hard tone, "because when they do they will label you as out of control, which is why I need to teach you to control your powers and your temper, so that you will never be labelled as a menace."

Nora was silent as she looked down at her hands. "Some people already think I'm a menace," she said in a small voice.

"My dear, you have a very large personality and a lot of power to go along with it, of course they think of you as a menace. But have you not found that some people are willing to overlook your oddities and accept you for who you are. Look at Albus Potter; he is exactly like his father. Kind, loyal and brave, he would never have allowed you to not be yourself for the rest of the year," Monroe said passionately. Nora looked up at her and saw that the woman truly believed what she was preaching.

"I do want to become an auror," Nora admitted, "not to kill bad guys, but to show the world that I am a good person and that I'm not going to use my powers to take over the wizarding world or something."

"Which we both know you could do right now," Monroe commented and Nora's head shot up in shock.

"I would never do something like that," she said angrily.

"And that is why we will be doing calming exercises today," Monroe said as she brought her hands together in prayer; eyes closing in relaxation. Nora grudgingly followed suit.

* * *

Nora walked into the Gryffindor common room relaxed and ready to do an actual telepathic lesson. She was all for not being labelled as a hazard to society but she was also the most stubborn person you could ever find. There was one thing she desperately wanted to practise and it was getting in other people's heads. She had found that with practice it became easier and easier. Nora hardly had to concentrate now to get in Al's, so today she was going to have to ease her conscience and take a step into another person's mind.

"Oi! Nora!" Nora turned to see Greyson grinning mischievously and beckoning for her to come over to the chairs around the fire. Greyson was surrounded by several other Gryffindor fourth years. There year had an abundant amount of guys, since apparently a good 10 were sorted into Gryffindor that year.

"Hullo Grey," she said with a smile that made many of the other boys sitting around the fire blink dazedly, "have you seen Al?"

"No, but you missed me beating the snot out of Gary Wayland. The tosser punched me after I told him what you said about Gerard. I bet him and Gerard are both poofs because he acted like I'd insulted his bloody girlfriend or something," Greyson ranted.

"He's over exaggerating a bit," Daniel White, Darren's younger brother, whispered to her. The two boys did look a lot alike but Daniel so far seemed to view women more as people then sexual conquests.

Nora chuckled and one boy with a bad case of acne gaped at her in a rather unattractive way. "By the way Grey, you got me in trouble with Monroe when you mentioned that I was the one who first mentioned that about Gerard."

Greyson gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry 'bout that Wilson."

"It's no problem," Nora said as she turned her head to see Al talking loudly to his sister, both entering into the common room together.

"What do you mean your dating someone?" Al said angrily.

"Al it's not very hard to figure out. A bloke who fancied me asked me out and I said yes," she said sarcastically, "you have done it before."

Al spluttered. "What's his name?"

"Al!"

"What's his name Lil?"

"He's a Ravenclaw and that's all I'm telling you," she said angrily.

"It's that pretty boy Ben King isn't it?" Al said pointing a finger at her.

Lily turned red at his statement and gave him the dirtiest look Nora had ever seen. "Don't you dare say anything to him Albus Potter or I will curse your balls off," she threatened. She then pivoted with a whip of her dark red hair and stalked away from her brother.

"Wait, did Al say that Lily is dating Ben King," Greyson said in a frantic tone.

Nora chuckled as she walked towards Al, who was visibly fuming. "Are you too mad to practice today or should I help make you feel better and get James to go off on her."

Al visibly perked up at the news. "That's brilliant, do you know where he is?"

"Al I was joking, your sister will murder you if you do that," Nora said exasperation. "Besides Monroe made me do calming exercises again today, so I want to get some practice in."

"But she's dating Ben King."

"Yes I know, but Ben is apparently very nice and we should not forget that he looks like some kind of reincarnated angel."

"But-?" Al spluttered.

"Come on Al," Nora said, pushing him back out through the portrait hole, "you have to let her grow up some time."

* * *

Nora and Al liked to hold their practice sessions under the big tree by the lake. It was much easier for her to concentrate on a person's mind when she wasn't surrounded by dozens of other people, so outside was a preferred spot of hers.

"I can't believe my sister has a boyfriend," Al said in disbelief.

"Well she certainly isn't ugly," Nora commented.

"I swear it was just yesterday that she was saying boys were gross and that she wished she had a sister."

"Al, you sound like her father," Nora said in exasperation.

"I'm her older brother," he said in a matter of fact tone, "it's my job to look out for her and make sure no guy ever hurts her."

"Sometimes I wish I had a sibling," Nora admitted sadly, "because something tells me they would never call me a menace to society."

Al turned his head to look at her, "no one thinks you're a menace to society."

Nora kept silent. She had no idea how much Al knew about Monroe and the relationship her and his father had had before Monroe had gone off the deep end. She was also a little curious still about Monroe being 'friendly' when she was younger. A Harry Potter scandal was not something anyone needed right now, but Nora highly doubted anything illicit ever occurred between the two.

"Anyway what did you want to practice today? Are we going to probe my mind further or are you going to just read my thoughts?"

"I need to practice on other people Al," Nora said softly.

"What?" Al spluttered. "Oh no you're not. The last time we practiced on other people you literally had a mental breakdown and puked on my shoes. We are not practicing on anyone other than me."

Nora scowled. "I'm not going to work hard to find out certain information on a person. I'll just read a random person's mind that probably has nothing to hide," Nora looked around the grounds to see a group of Hufflepuff girls giggling and looking obviously in Al's direction, which he had yet to notice. "Like those Hufflepuff's," she said pointing in their direction, "what deep dark secrets could they be hiding? How much they want to kiss you? Whether or not you will ever acknowledge them?"

Al glowered at her. "Isn't reading my mind practice enough?"

Nora's expression softened. "Al you've become far too easy for me to read. I'm going to have to practice on other people so that I don't just become accustomed to being in your head. Everyone's mind is different."

"You're not allowed to," Al said angrily, "I risked getting in shit with McGonagall when I lied for you and you're going to go around reading any mind you want. That's against the rules that they told you to follow."

"Al I need to practice."

"You already are on two different people," Al muttered savagely.

"Al I know my limits, I know when to stop," she said pleadingly. But she had no idea why she was trying to convince him to let her do this. She could easily do it without him even knowing and everyone would be happy. However, every time that thought crossed her mind she was reminded of Al's guilt stricken face from when she was in the hospital wing and a very horrible feeling would settle in the pit of her stomach. She honestly believed that she would never be able to deceive Al in any way without feeling she was betraying him. But the big question was, why? She had only been his friend for 2 months and suddenly she felt like she could trust him with her life. Nora couldn't remember the last time she trusted anyone to that extreme.

"The last time I thought you knew your limit you wound up in the hospital wing," Al said stubbornly.

"And that is how I know my limit. I know I shouldn't try to read minds when I'm tired or when there are a lot of people around that can easily distract me," she explained, "and right now I am relaxed from an hour of Buddhist prayer and there is barely anyone around since it's kind of freezing out here. So this is the ideal time for me to go poking around in a couple airheads minds." She then flashed him a hopeful smile. Come on Al, I know I'm wearing you down.

"Fine," he muttered, "but I'm not lying for you again and-" but Al quickly shut up when Nora leaned in and gave him a loving hug. Nora felt him hesitate-surprised by her show of affection-and then gently hugged her back.

"Thank you for worrying about me," she said into his ear, "I really appreciate it." Al took a shaky breath in and Nora let go of him, looking at him inquisitively. "You okay?"

Al cleared his throat loudly, face slightly red. "Fine, fine. Go and read their minds before I find the mind I have obviously lost."

Nora winked at him and turned to look over at the group of Hufflepuff girls, who were whispering furiously amongst one another. Nora decided to focus on the short pudgy blond haired girl with a nose like a pig and she closed her eyes in concentration. Nora felt Al grip her shoulder as a sign showing that he was there if she needed anything and she smiled inwardly at the warm feeling his hand was making throughout her body. She shrugged off the feeling and concentrated on the girl's face. The sound upon entering Al's mind was always a clear crisp popping noise, but when she entered the Hufflepuff girl's mind it sounded as if she were being sucked into a semi-clogged vacuum and she suddenly was overtaken by the smell of cherry flavoured lip gloss. Huh, she hadn't really ever noticed a smell upon entering other people's minds.

_"Albus Potter is far too good for Amy; everyone knows she stuffs her bra. But now he's all over that new girl. I wish I could be her and then I would be able to touch Albus Potter,"_ the girl's voice thought dreamily and Nora resisted the urge to gag as she pulled her subconscious out of the girl's mind.

"What's the matter?" Al asked, staring at her in concern, "you look like you swallowed a dung beetle."

"Well the pig nosed girl wishes she could be me so you would touch her and someone named Amy stuffs her bra," she said with a chuckle.

"Amy Wells stuffs her bra," Al said in astonishment as he craned his neck to look over at the Hufflepuff's. Nora began to laugh loudly.

* * *

A/N- Chapter 10!! In this chapter we learn quite a bit about Monroe's past and why she wants to pay extra attention to Nora so that she never has to go through what she went through. Also we get a little appearance from Lily and more fluffiness in the Nora/Al department. I will continue to update as quickly possible, so please please read and review. I love it when I can read what people think of my writing.


	11. An Unnatural Amount Of Hormones

Chapter 11- An Unnatural Amount of Hormones

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine. So there is no need to sue me.

* * *

Rose knew that it was going to be one of those days. One of those days where you think it's going to be a good day because it's sunny and oddly warm for the end of November, but then something completely unexpected happens that grinds your day to a sickening halt. Or maybe she just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and was in no way ready to deal with both Andy's birthday and the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw quidditch match that was being held that very same November 24th.

"It's a sign Al," Andy said passionately, waving his fork around dangerously, "the game being on my birthday means you are definitely going to win."

"How?"

"Because I'm good luck and if you guys win it will be a nice present to me. Not to mention the party afterwards will be bloody brilliant."

Rose rolled her eyes and scooped some eggs on to her fork and brought them up to her mouth. She adored quidditch to death, she just hated Andy's I'm lucky speeches and the unnaturally high levels of testosterone in the air before the actual match. However, before every match David was much more likely to throw up then punch something and Al only seemed to get nervous if they were playing the final quidditch match of the season.

The person she was most surprised by the eve of the match, was Nora. Rose had expected her to be bouncing off walls from adrenaline and excitement but instead she seemed calmer than ever and was reading a book about Egyptian myths and legends.

"Dave, you need to calm down," Alice said in soothing tones as she patted David's back reassuringly. "Take deep breaths. You're going to be fine today because you always are."

David smiled meekly at her. No one worried about Dave's nerves. He had been this way ever since he joined the team in their third year. Everyone knew he would be absolutely fine as soon as he got on his broom and whacked a bludger at someone's head. It was like therapy for him. A rather violent form of therapy but still therapy none the less.

But something still had her on edge. She could feel fate's presence everywhere and it wasn't the good kind of feeling. Maybe it was just because of her hair being frizzier then it usually was, Nora's usual calmness – especially after her meltdown a few weeks back, which she knew was not caused by a severe migraine -, or the odd smirk on Darren White's face a little ways down the table. Wait. Hold that thought. That was it! She was on edge because of Darren.

She peeked in his direction to see him smirking over at the Slytherin table. Rose noticed that he was smirking at one person in particular. Malfoy.

Rose studied Darren's triumphant grin and could only come up with one explanation. He too had fallen off his rocker and believed that Malfoy liked her. Rose snorted to herself. What a completely ridiculous idea. Malfoy liking her was less likely than her Uncle Harry being sent to Azkaban for practicing dark magic. Besides the proof was already there. He had literally laughed at the idea of ever finding attractive. Rose felt her stomach clench unhappily at the memory and she scowled down at her eggs. Stupid Malfoy. Why the bloody hell did she let him get to her?

"That scowl is ruining you pretty face Weasley," Darren said suavely as he sat down next to her. "Anything bothering you?"

Rose hadn't noticed Darren get up but she was smart enough to know that what Darren meant by anything, actually meant anyone. "No, just thinking," she said pleasantly. Over the weeks she had become in a way, friends with Darren. Just a couple of days ago they had had an intense tickling match. Rose had lost horribly but it had been fun to learn that Darren White was ticklish. Not to mention he was no longer sitting and watching her while she studied but actually studying as well.

"Excited for the game?" Darren asked.

"Of course," she said brightly. "Quidditch is loved by all Weasley's, even the ones who can't fly to save their lives." Darren chuckled at her comment and stood up from his seat.

"Well I better make sure that James isn't plotting ways to murder Gerard," he said wryly, "save me a seat Weasley?"

Rose blinked at his abrupt question but was even more surprised by her answer.

"Sure White." Darren gave her an appreciative look and walked away using his confident stride.

As soon as Darren was far enough away Rose instantly felt five sets of eyes piercing into her skull. She turned her head only to confirm her suspicions. David's mouth was hanging open in astonishment. Alice's eyes were wide with wonder. Andy seemed mixed between shock and amusement. Al's brow was furrowed in question; the words 'what the hell was that?' were flashing across his jade green eyes. Nora, however, was staring at her knowingly from the top of her book. As if she thought she was up to something. Rose watched as Nora put her book down to reveal a small knowing smile on her face. She also noted that Nora's eyes kept on darting behind her.

"What?" she asked in annoyance.

"When the hell did you become so chummy with Darren White?" David asked in bewilderment.

Rose furrowed her brown in confusion. "What do you mean when? We've always been friends."

Rose heard Andy snort, but Alice was the one to speak. "Rosie, honey. You used to treat him like you treat James. Like an annoying brother/very close cousin. Now you're treating him like...," Alice hesitated and then stopped when she saw the look Rose was giving her.

"Like he's one of your best buddies," Nora's smooth voice finished. Rose noticed Nora's eye flick yet again to look at whatever was behind her.

Rose huffed. "So is it a crime if I could like to be friends with Darren?"

"Well for starters Darren doesn't have friends who are girls. Only girlfriends or those he plans on making his girlfriend," Al said with a slight hint of unease. "That's just the way he is."

"Well I'm not going to become his next girlfriend," Rose reassured, as she saw Nora's eyes, yet again, look past her. "And what the hell are you looking at Nora?"

"Nothing," she said innocently and went back to reading her book, a smirk plastered across her face.

Rose turned her head with a snort to see what Nora was looking at. Rose looked behind her only to come the conclusion that there was absolutely nothing there that was noteworthy, except a bunch of Slytherin's who all gave her death glares.

Rose turned back around and shot Nora a dirty look, failing to notice Scorpius Malfoy hurry out of the hall; glowering angrily at everything around him.

* * *

"And Wilson scores yet again! Making the score 90 – 20 for Gryffindor!"

"She's a bit of a show off isn't she?" Shasta said snidely as James clapped Nora on the back in congratulations.

"Sure," Amanda said in fake agreement. Rose wasn't all that sure as to why Shasta was sitting with the Gryffindor's but it was probably because she wanted a better look at James at Gryffindor's end of the pitch. She may pretend like she had no interest in James but Rose knew every girl in Hogwarts found James attractive to some degree.

"Ravenclaw is in possession. Wayland attempts to pass to King. But - oh! Intercepted by Wood, who quickly passes off to Wilson!"

Rose cheered loudly at how great the Gryffindor's were today. Meanwhile Andy was yelling advice so loudly that he was terrifying a group of second years in front of him and Alice was trying her best to cheer on the team while peering through her fingers.

"And Potter scores making it 100 – 20 Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor's erupted in cheers yet again. Rose watched as Nora high fived Al in celebration as she flew by him. She could not help but notice how chummy those two had been getting, especially after the incident at the Three Broomsticks.

"And it seems the Ravenclaw team has called a time out," Nicholas Harper, the third year official announcer for the past two years, proclaimed. "Well folks, with the addition of Nora Wilson, the Gryffindor's seem to have become unbeatable. Just by watching them now I highly doubt Slytherin will be much, if any, competition for this incredibly skilled team."

Gryffindor cheered and Darren, who was sitting next to her, muttered damn right in agreement.

Yes, Darren was sitting next to her, and yes, it did look awfully suspicious but they were only friends. Besides she had promised to save a seat for him at breakfast and it would have been terribly rude to have not done what she had promised. And so what Darren currently had his arm slung over her shoulders while they were waiting for the time out to end. Lots of guy and girl friends made this gesture to one and other. For example, Al and Nora, they were sling arms around each other all the time and those two were just friends. Wait, they're not such a great example.

"Hey Rosie," Darren muttered in Rose's ear, "what are you thinking about?"

There he goes with the nickname again. "Oh nothing," Rose said with a nervous smile, noticing the death glares she was receiving from several different girls in the stands. Merlin, how many girls wanted a piece of this bloke? Sure, he was very good looking. Wait, scratch that. He was what Adonis would look like if he was mortal and living in the 21st century. His dark brown hair hung down in waves that framed his perfectly sculpted face making him appear godly and his amber eyes could make the biggest prudes melt with desire. However, looks weren't everything. He had left a trail of heartbroken girls behind him for the past few years all because, according to James, he refused to commit to any girl because Darren thought that relationships were old and boring. Therefore he wasn't ranked very high on the great guy scale of one to ten.

"And the whistle sounds the end of the time out. Let's hope for Ravenclaw's sake that they have come up with some sort of plan to get them back in this match."

The next ten minutes of the match continued on as if the Ravenclaw's had forgotten what a strategy was and were just resorting to tackling whoever had the quaffle in the hopes of stealing it from them or injuring them in some way.

Unfortunately it wasn't really working. Nora was so good at manoeuvring around all the other players that it didn't matter if all three chasers on the Ravenclaw team tried to tackle her at once, she still somehow managed to squeeze by them.

By the time Lily finally caught the snitch – amidst a roar of cheering and applause – the final score was 310 – 40, causing the Ravenclaw's to all hang their heads in embarrassment, while Ryan Gerard looked about ready to curl into a ball and cry over there monumental loss. Rose couldn't help but think, as she watched the Gryffindor team carrying Nora up to the castle followed by the rest of the Gryffindor's, that if this was how horrible Ravenclaw was, then they might a well record the game against Hufflepuff as a win as well.

"I told you we'd win!" Andy shouted exuberantly as they all filed into the crowd that was heading for Gryffindor tower. Rose couldn't help but sigh in relief as she watched Darren break away from her to go congratulate James at the front of the horde of people.

"Thank Merlin," Alice whispered, "I don't think I could have forgiven the team if I had been forced me up into those bloody stands just to watch them lose."

Rose peered ahead of her only to see her cousin Louis carrying a bottle of what could definitely not be described as pumpkin juice, along with several other fifth years who were all trying to appear inconspicuous. Andy seemed to notice the direction of her gaze and grabbed onto her arm before she could march over to Louis and yell at him.

"Rose," Andy said in a pleading voice, "Come on. It's my seventeenth birthday. You only become legal once. Besides Gryffindor won, which means you should let loose a little tonight."

"That is not going to convince her Andy," Alice, who had stopped along with them, said honestly. "Rose is a prefect and unlike Al, she takes her job seriously."

Andy gave Alice a dirty look in response. "Alright. How about this? Let's say that tonight is your night off from being the good little prefect that I know and love. Everyone deserves a night off. Al's having one, and apparently so is Lou. Not to mention, from the amount of makeup I saw on Zabini and the almost flicker of excitement I saw on Malfoy's usually emotionless face, something tells me this is definitely their night off as well. So why can't you, just once, let loose a little?" Andy argued.

"Because the last time she let loose she ended up sno-," but Alice was cut short when Andy clapped a hand over her mouth to silence her.

Rose knew she didn't usually act impulsively. It wasn't her nature. Especially since the last time she did, it ended with her horribly embarrassing herself. But she did know now how much it took before she was too pissed to see straight. So, all she had to do was stick to one drink all night and she'd be fine. Besides Al was obviously going to be celebrating tonight and no doubt Nora and David wouldn't either. Malfoy would be to. Rose's lip curled as she imagined the sneer on Malfoy's face when he saw her not drinking at all at a party for her own house.

"Fine," Rose said giving into peer pressure. Something she knew was wrong. "Tonight will be my night off, but I'm only having one drink."

Andy didn't seem to care about anything she had said after fine, since he was now dragging both her and an astonished Alice towards the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Rose knew she was horrible when it came to resisting peer pressure. She had said she would only have one drink but here she was half way through her fourth, slurring her words and leaning in a very odd direction for someone who was trying to sit up straight. She blinked stupidly as she looked around her, talking another gulp of her drink, ignoring the burning sensation in her throat from the firewhiskey. David and Alice - who was sitting on top of him - were now fast asleep on top of each other on the chair next to her. Andy had his shirt off and his tongue down the throat of some random blonde on the other side of the room. Al was unaccounted for and Nora was chatting with Lily by the punch bowl, drinking what Rose thought was her sixth drink while still looking like she was still on her first. Rose groaned as she felt herself tip over slightly, only to be saved by someone with strong hands. Rose squinted up at her rescuer and burst into a very goofy smile.

"Darren!" she said in an over exaggerated happiness and loudness, so he could hear her over the music and the hollering of the people on the dancefloor. "Thanks, I al-almost dropped my drink."

Rose noticed him stumble slightly as he sat down on the couch next to her. So, he was a little tipsy as well. She only vaguely remembered the competition he had with James on who could down the most shots of firewhiskey in five minutes. "Enjoying yourself Rosie?" He said voice slightly husky. Uh oh. Rose knew that tone.

"Yup," she said brightly taking another sip of her drink to calm her nerves as his arm looped around her shoulder for the second time that day. "You seen Al?" she asked, trying to change the topic.

"He went into the hall," he replied, staring at her intently.

Rose giggled. "Whatcha looking at?" Why would you ask that question?

"Huh?"  
"What are you looking at?" Rose asked again, poking him in the chest theatrically as if to show him that she really was talking to him.

"You."

She giggled again. "Why?"

Darren's eyes locked with her wide blinking ones. "Because you're so bloody beautiful."

Rose's eyes widened even bigger and her already red face grew even redder. She looked away from him to see something that, for some reason, horrified her. Scorpius Malfoy was locked in passionate snogging session with Zabini, who was practically trying to undress him in the common room and almost doing so since his oxford was hanging open revealing his pale chest. Rose's stomach churned from nausea and it was not from the alcohol. She barely noticed Malfoy's gaze avert from Zabini for a second to glance in her direction only for him to sneer at her in the most sickening show of contempt. Anger rose in her chest and Rose looked away from him and back at Darren, who was now staring at her lips. Malfoy had looked at her that way on purpose and for some odd reason she felt the need to show him up. Rose lifted her cup to her lips and swallowed the rest of its contents, the burn sliding its way slowly down her throat like a warning that what she was about to do was definitely not a good idea.

"Really," she said breathlessly, "not a lot of guys say that to me."

Because if you kiss a guy once while drunk, it's a mistake.

Darren started to lean towards her, eyes still locked on her lips. "Well they're all a bunch of idiots."

But kiss the same guy twice while drunk, you wanted it.

"Couldn't agree more," Rose said in a raspy voice, before closing the distance between her and Darren's lips.

* * *

Author`s Note- DRAMA!!! I just had to set back the Rose & Scorpius relationship a little more. Things aren`t going to be that easy for the two of them. And yay Gryffindor won!!! Anyway please read and review since it is mush appreciated by me. Toodles!


	12. Taking It Slowly

Chapter 12 – Taking It Slowly

Disclaimer- harry potter is not mine, so please don't sue.

* * *

"You think she's dating him?"

"Darren White doesn't date girls, he has sex with them Kelsey."

"Well... you think she's had sex with him?"

"Probably."

Rose gritted her teeth at the girl's statement. You will not tell that girl you are a virgin, you will not.

"Blimey. I never thought Rose Weasley would ever let someone like Darren White touch her anywhere, but after their little snogging session at the party, she's either already gotten some or she's hoping to get some."

That's it. Rose was about to enforce the stereotype of redheads being temperamental, when an ethereal voice stepped in.

"Girls," Nora's airy voice said in greeting as Rose watched her walk by the two stunned Hufflepuff's, "it's not polite to talk about other people, literally, behind their backs. Don't you think?"

Both girls muttered quick no's and scurried away before Nora could do anything to them. Nora smiled slightly and then sat down across from Rose at her table.

"Thanks," Rose mumbled.

"There's not supposed to be any annoying distractions in the library. I was providing a civil service."

Rose snorted and went back to scowling at her parchment.

"Okay," Nora said with a sigh, "it doesn't take a genius to figure out that your upset. Especially since you have been avoiding everyone in general as much as possible this past week and a half. So talk to me."

Rose couldn't help but look back a week and a half ago to the night she let all reason fly out the front door. She could not, for the life of her, remember why she had snogged Darren again. Her memory of that night was all in bits and pieces. She remembered kissing Darren, which promptly leapt to him grabbing her around the waist and winding up on his lap. She remembered how nice it felt running her hands through his shaggy hair and she remembered his tongue in her throat. But she could not honestly say it was gross. No, Darren was an excellent kisser – probably from his years of practice. If it hadn't been for the table that was behind the couch her and Darren were on falling over unexpectedly causing everyone to look in their direction, she probably would never have stopped, unless someone had intervened. But she still could not figure out why she had kissed him for a second time.

"I'm just so embarrassed," she admitted dejectedly.

"About what?"

Rose couldn't believe her ears. About what indeed. How about the fact that she snogged the same guy twice and now everyone thought she was devirginized slut. "What do you mean? I snogged Darren, again. Now everyone thinks I want him and that I'm not a virgin anymore and that I'm just one of the many random girls he's slept with!" she exclaimed hysterically.

"Oh hun," Nora said in a soothing voice, "why should you give a shit about what other people think?" Rose blinked and Nora's bluntness and she continued to speak. "So what you made out with the same guy twice. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe you do like him."

Rose made a face at this statement. "I do not fancy him."

"Are you sure? Because if you were just using him to get someone else jealous you were doing a hell of a good job."

Rose thought back; her memories still in bits and pieces. Wait, she remembered Darren calling her beautiful and her commenting on how guys didn't say that to her much and then he had said that they were all idiots. He had called her beautiful and she had kissed him. Thoroughly. Maybe she did fancy him.

"I think I might fancy him," Rose admitted breathlessly.

"Mhmm," Nora mumbled. Rose couldn't help but notice that her tone sounded like she didn't completely believe her.

"Well I remember him calling me beautiful and then kissing him. So, in my uninhibited state I acted on my inner feelings."

"Yes, that could be why," Nora said, voice hinting at something else, but Rose failed to notice it.

"If it hadn't been for that table falling over I doubt I would have stopped. I was definitely enjoying myself. Who knows what could have happened."

"Ya."

"I wonder how that table fell over." Rose said, more to herself then to Nora.

"It was Malfoy."

"What?" Rose said in confusion

"Malfoy knocked the table over while he was leaving with Zabini," Nora replied with an expectant look.

"Wonder why he did that?"

"Yes, I wonder," Nora said sarcastically, which Rose failed to notice yet again.

"And where was Al to stop me. He stopped me last time. It's not like him to not have my back. After all our parents had us taking baths together and everything when we were little."

"He was off with some Hufflepuff fifth year," Nora said grumpily.

"He was what?" Nora asked in disbelief.

"He was making out with some fifth year," she replied sourly and stop changing the subject."

Rose gave her an odd look and then sighed. "What do I do Nora? I never thought I would be like all those other girls who fell for Darren's charm and gorgeous hair."

Nora smiled at her statement. "You make liking him sound horrible."

"What do you mean?"

Nora raised an eyebrow in her direction, reflecting how much she couldn't believe that Rose hadn't seen this all before. "Rose, since I've gotten here all Darren has done with the opposite sex is make some sexual comment about hot girls and go on one random date that ended with nothing happening. Maybe he's different now. Maybe he actually likes you."

Rose thought about this and dismissed it. Someone like Darren could never like someone like her. "Nora, you don't know him, he's like a sex fiend. He slept with everyone last year and I'm sure he shagged loads of girls over the summer."

"That may be true," Nora said in her airy voice, "but I don't think he's slept with anyone in over three and a half months."

Rose pondered her statement. She had yet to hear anything about any girl sleeping with Darren all year, save her. Did that mean he had actually stopped having sex just to woo her? Merlin, this guy was dedicated. There had been a rumour last year that he was addicted to sex, so cutting that part of his life out must have taken a lot of will power.

"Blimey, you may be right," Rose said in an astonished voice.

"I usually am."

Rose shot her a stony look. "But if that's true, he may be only doing it to lull me into a false sense of security so I will let my guard down around him, which will cause him to seduce me into bed. Then once that's done he'll dump me like last year's broom model."

Nora sighed heavily. "Rose, you need to stop being so damn pessimistic. What if his lack of sexual intercourse is because he grew up or he realizes that to get you he has to not be a giant pig? He's best friends with your cousin; you don't think he may have asked James about what you're interested in or what you're like. Also, something tells me, that if he wanted to get in your pants, he probably would have done it already."

"I would not have let him get into my knickers," she said stubbornly.

"Well that's good to know, since you are going to go talk to him."

That got Rose's attention. "What?"

"You heard me; you are going to stop avoiding the inevitable and go talk to the guy you like," Nora said sternly getting up from her chair. "And when you do you will tell him about your feelings and ask him any questions you want."

"I'm not doing that," Rose said in a horrified voice.

"Yes you are, since he's right over there," Nora said, pointing behind Rose. Rose's eyes widened and she spun around to see Darren going to sit down at a table at the far side of the library, a book in hand. Rose turned back around to see Nora smirking at her. "I think he's here to study. You two always did study in here on Saturday's right? Wait, did he used to study before you came along?"

Rose buried her head in her hands. "I don't want to talk to him," she said in a muffled voice. Rose heard the scrape of the chair next to her being pulled out and the sigh the seat made when Nora sat down in it.

"It's always best to talk to people about what's going on inside your head," Nora said in her soothing voice, "because keeping secrets can eat you up on the inside and literally make you go nuts."

"Look who's talking," Rose muttered lifting her head from her hands, but instantly regretted when she saw Nora visibly stiffen. Rose chanced a look at her face only to cower at the furious look Nora was giving her.

"Go," she ordered angrily.

"Fine," she said, "no need to get your knickers in a knot." Rose then stood up as gracefully as someone who was trembling with nerves could and walked slowly over to the table that Darren was sitting at. Rose noticed that more and more people had begun to watch her as she walked over to him; waiting for her to either, stick her tongue down his throat in an act of unbridled passion or fall flat on her face and make a fool of herself. At that thought Rose began to panic. What was she supposed to say to him? Hi Darren, how are you? By the way I really like kissing you a lot these days since I sort of fancy you. Just thought I'd give you a heads up. Have a brilliant day. No, she could not say that. What would Nora do? Rose's face fell visibly when she realized Nora would never ever be in this position because every man she every came into contact with was always bowing at her feet and if not she could just seduce them with her perfect hair, her perfect face, her perfect body, her perfect everything. And what was she? A frizzy redhead with far too many freckles to be considered cute and only an okay amount of curves. She was average. She wasn't an exotic beauty like Zabini or angelic looking like Nora; she was boring, plain and simple.

Much to Rose's distress, during her panicked thoughts, she had managed to make her way over to Darren and she was now standing awkwardly behind him unsure of how to approach him. Unfortunately he seemed to notice that someone was lurking behind him and he turned his head slightly to see who it was, only for his eyes to widen in surprise upon seeing it was her.

"Rose," he said in surprise as he quickly stood up, a hand running through his hair in a motion Rose could only be described as nerves. Darren White was nervous to be around her? Wow, this had to be a sign of the apocalypse.

"Uh... hello Darren," Rose said awkwardly, trying to look anywhere but at his face.

She heard him chuckle softly at her awkwardness and she scowled at the floor. Apparently Darren didn't like her looking at the floor, since he reached out a hand and tilted her face upwards so that he was looking into her eyes. "What's up Rosie?"

"Um – well -," Rose stuttered, trying to find the words to best convey that she may fancy him without totally blurting it out like an idiot, "well, I just wanted to talk to you about what happened at the party; between you and me."

"Not avoiding me anymore then?" he asked with a cheeky smile.

Rose laughed nervously, "Looks that way doesn't it, so about the other night."

"It's okay that you think it was a mistake. We were both smashed and not thinking properly."

Rose blinked. Why was Darren White acting reasonable? She had initiated their little snogging session. Shouldn't he be a bit peeved that she had been avoiding him like the plague when he had practically told her that he fancied her?

"Well yes it was a mistake to snog each other while we were piss drunk," Rose said in a agreement and she notic++d that Darren's shoulders sagged a fraction of an inch and his face fell for only a second before he regained his composure.

"Right then," he said cheerfully, "we can just go back to being friends like before."

"Er – wait. I wasn't done talking Darren," Rose said in confusion. Why was he being so cooperative? Most blokes would have called her a tease by now or something.

"What else did you have to say?"

"Well," Rose said impatiently, nerves forgotten for a moment, "I don't want to keep snogging you while I'm pissed because I possibly would like to do it while I'm sober. I thought it was obvious that I was attracted to you, especially since I ruddy well threw myself at you. And since I'm being honest, if that table hadn't been knocked over I probably would have let you cup a feel a few times." It took a moment for what Rose had just said to sink in before she felt her face flame in embarrassment. She looked up at Darren only to squeak timidly at the intense look her was giving her. He seemed to have taken a step closer to her leaving only a few inches between them and allowing Rose to smell is cinnamon scented breath as it wafted into her face.

"Are you trying to tell me that you fancy me Rosie," he said huskily. Rose twiddled her fingers nervously at his tone. How could anyone make the nickname 'Rosie' sound sexual.

"Well – I – er – yes... yes I am," she said uncertainly, trying to ignore how close his body was to hers and the fact that her heart had sped up considerably in the last couple of seconds. "But if we are going to develop a more than friendly relationship I would like to take it slowly thank you," she said in her most diplomatic voice. She was not about to give him the satisfaction of turning her into a dithering little idiot.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said in a deep voice. He then – much to Rose's embarrassment – took her chin in one of his very large hands, titled her head up to look at him and then kissed her soundly on the lips. Just when Rose began to feel the sensible part of her brain slip away and had begun to respond to Darren's actions, he suddenly pulled away; a large smirk on his face. Rose stared at him in confusion; her chest heaving.

"Taking it slowly, remember," he said in response to her look of confusion. Before she could say anything, he gave her a mock salute and strode smoothly away and out of the library. Rose just gaped along with the rest of the people who had witnessed their exchange. That insufferable git! He was toying with her and enjoying it immensely. Rose let out a loud huff of indignation and looked over to where Nora was still sitting. She had apparently gotten over her anger towards her and shot her a sheepish look before smiling broadly. She was enjoying this too!

"Oooo," she muttered loudly in frustration, finally noticing that everyone was staring at her. "What?" she snapped. "Haven't you seen people snog before?" Noticing her tone everyone quickly turned away from her. Rose rolled her eyes. Darren was literally going to take it slow with her because she had asked him to, which would lead to her doing something stupid in frustration. With as much dignity as she could muster, Rose stormed out of the library, very unhappy with her current predicament and wondering when Darren got so bloody smart.

* * *

A/N- Chapter 12 finished. So I haven't been updating as quickly as I would like but I promise to update faster next time. Not much happened in this chapter except that Rose is now together with Darren, which I'm sure some people do not appreciate. Please read and review and thank you to everyone who has so far.


	13. Meeting The Family

Chapter 13- Meeting the Family

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, so please do not sue me.

* * *

Nora had encouraged Rose to talk to Darren about her feelings because it was obvious that she did like him. Although, Nora still believed that deep down Rose had feelings for Malfoy as well, who was now the most depressed looking person on the planet. Ever since it had been made official that Darren was more than friends with benefits with Rose Weasley, the entire school had begun to watch the two of them like hawks and Malfoy actually cursed a fourth year for bumping into him in his rage. However, everyone forgot about Malfoy's indiscretion quite quickly, since if Darren and Rose's relationship even lasted a couple weeks, it would be considered Darren's first real relationship with an actual respectable girl. Something Nora didn't find all that surprising. Although, she did not doubt that he actually did like Rose.

Nora stared out the train window as the English country side, which was covered in a fresh layer of sparkling white snow, flew by. She was officially on her way to staying over at Rose's place for the entire Christmas break. This meant Christmas dinner with the entire Weasley clan, something that even Nora found rather intimidating. Rose had insisted that she write a letter to her father asking for his permission. She apparently still thought he might care where she was. So Nora had written a letter asking for permission. However she planned on mailing it to him when she was thirty.

Nora looked away from the window to see David and Alice blushing and staring at each other as they played a game of wizard's chess. They had probably made about 5 moves between the two of them since the Hogwarts Express had left Hogsmeade station about an hour ago. Andy was making fun of Rose's relationship with Darren, since Rose was currently frustrated by how slow Darren was actually going. Nora couldn't help but smile. Whenever Darren and Rose would start to head towards completely making out he would stop and walk away. Rose would then kick something because she was way too stubborn to actually ask Darren to stop going so slow. Nora decided that she would have to help her out later.

Her gaze turned to see Al out in the hall talking to the same blonde girl he had hooked up with the night of the Gryffindor victory party. Nora's stomach churned angrily and she couldn't help but glare at the girl. Al claimed that he and_ Marissa_ were just friends and there little hook up was the result of too many shots of firewhiskey. Nora shook her head to clear her mind. Why was she acting like some jealous girlfriend? Al and her were just friends and that was the way she liked it. She was definitely not ready for a relationship with any guy, especially after how horrible her last one ended. This sort of jealous feeling she was feeling was probably because he had bailed on their last practice session because he had promised Marissa he would study with her. She liked practicing with him. It insured she would never accidently kill herself or anyone else. So instead she had just gone to talk to Monroe. Nora remembered vividly that Monroe had noticed her discomfort at Al forgetting their practice session.

_"You seem irritated Nora," Monroe said idly._

_"That's because I am," she replied in a biting tone._

_"May I ask why?"_

_"No," Nora grumbled._

_"That's all right," Monroe said with a soft chuckle, "I think I have a pretty good idea why you're unsettled at the moment. If I remember correctly, you were supposed to practice with Mr. Potter this afternoon."_

_Nora scowled in response. "He said he forgot. How could he forget?"_

_"Men often have a hard time seeing what's right in front of their face," Monroe said cryptically while giving her a meaningful look._

_"What?" Nora asked in confusion._

_"However some women do as well," Monroe replied back dryly._

Nora glowered as she recalled the memory. What the hell had she meant by that? Nora knew it sounded cocky but she was the best at reading other people. Her being able to read minds kind of supported that fact.

"Oi! Nora!" Andy said loudly, snapping his fingers in her face. "If you glare at the window anymore, it's going to break."

Nora turned her head only to realize that Al was back in the compartment with all of them.

"How's Marissa?" she asked in a mocking tone. See, she could easily just be his friend.

"She's fine. I'll let her know you were thinking about her," he shot back with a grin.

"So mate, you going to go any further with the girl?" Andy asked.

"Probably not Andy, I'm not really interested in her like that when I'm not full of alcohol. She's great to talk to and all, but she really isn't my type." Nora's brow creased in thought. Al had a type? Nora noticed a frown of displeasure cross Rose's face at his statement but it quickly vanished when Rose noticed her staring. Now what had that been about?

The rest of the train ride went by uneventfully. Darren had shown up half way through the trip to see Rose but she had only proceeded to get angry with him, which caused him to kiss her yet again just to silence her. He then quickly dashed off before Rose could come to her senses and curse him to bits.

"Am I even his girlfriend?" Rose protested loudly. "I have yet to recall a moment where we said we were boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Wait until James tells your dad," Al murmured, "Darren better hope Uncle Ron never finds him, because if he does he's going to castrate him."

This statement only led to Rose's angry features morphing into horrified ones as she obviously pictured a conversation between her father and Darren.

The Hogwarts Express arrived at Platform 9 ¾ right on schedule. Nora picked up her bag and followed everyone off the train, not sure how Rose's family would react upon seeing her. She feared the idea that any of her friend's parents knew anything about her past. If they knew what she had done all those months ago they would definitely not allow their kids anywhere near her.

"Do you see any of our parent's guys?" Rose asked.

David nodded his head above the horde of people on the platform. "Ya they're all over by the wall."

Everyone walked over to the group of adults massed at one of the platform walls. Nora's eyes instantly travelled to a man she had seen before. He was outrageously tall, probably standing at about 6'4". His dark brown hair was combed neatly and he was dressed in very professional and expensive looking robes.

"Who's the guy in the suit?" Nora muttered to Alice.

"Oh him," Alice remarked with surprise. "That's David's dad. Why do you ask?"

Nora's eyes widened in shock. Now she remembered where she had seen that man before. He was one of the men on the Hogwarts Board of Governors who had all insisted upon meeting her before deciding whether or not to allow her to go to Hogwarts. They had literally all gotten folders on everything she had done in her life and what rehabilitation she had to go through to be able to actually get into Hogwarts, which meant he knew everything about her. Now that she thought about it David and his dad did look awfully alike. They were both freakishly tall and David's dad looked exactly like him only 30 years older and 40 pounds heavier. "No reason," Nora said miserably. As soon as David's dad saw her with his son there would be letters to other parents and Nora would become a social pariah faster than saying 'but I'm better now.'

"Oh there they are Ronald," a woman with very curly brown hair said to the tall red haired man with a goatee and a lot of freckles standing next to her. "Over here kids!"

"Does she always need to do that?" Hugo grumbled from behind Nora.

Everyone's parents quickly rushed forward to embrace their kids once they had all cleared the mass of bodies on the platform. Nora stood off to the side as she watched the families greet each other. Rose's dad had enveloped her in a huge hug and Rose was trying in vain to fight him off. Nora smiled sadly. It had been years since her father had hugged her or just been happy to see her.

"Nora!" James exclaimed, "stop being anti-social and get your ass over here."

Nora blinked back a stray tear and put on a smile as she strode towards the group.

"I'm going to get going you guys," Andy announced as Nora reached them, "my parents are waiting over there. See you guys after the break."

Everyone said their goodbye's and then turned to face Nora. A pretty woman with long red hair smiled at her. "So you must be Nora. Al has told me a lot about you."

Al groaned in embarrassment. "Mum."

So this woman was Al's mom. "Hopefully all good things," Nora said cheerily but she had quickly noticed the surprised look on David's dad's face upon seeing her there in front of them.

Al's mom chuckled. "Believe me dear, all he does is say nice things about you."

"Oh does he now," James said, giving his brother a malicious looking grin. Al just turned pink and glared at his older brother.

"Where's dad mum?" Lily asked, finally joining the group. Nora suspected she had been giving some last minute goodbyes to Ben.

"He's working a little late tonight," Mrs. Potter said, "but he'll be home for dinner."

"Tell Harry he needs to stop working so bloody hard," Mr. Weasley chuckled and then turned to gaze at Nora, "so kiddo. Looks like you're stuck with us for Christmas huh?"

"Dad," Rose said with a sigh, "you're making it sound like her staying with us is a bad idea."

Mr. Weasley quirked an eyebrow at his daughter. "Well I don't know a lot of people who can handle a family dinner with the Weasley's, much less Christmas dinner."

"I'm sure she'll be fine Ronald," the curly haired woman said before extending a hand to her, Nora guessed this was Rose and Hugo's mom. "Hello Nora, I'm Hermione Weasley, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said with a pleasant smile before giving her husband a look of disdain, "and this oaf next to me is my husband Ronald."

Nora took her hand and shook it. "Pleasure to meet you."

"You'll love her Hermione," Professor Longbottom said, "she can do any spell you can possibly think of. If it wasn't for her lack of respect towards authority she would be a better student then you were."

David's dad finally decided to add something to the conversation. "I would have to agree with you there Neville, I remember when the board met her over the summer. The amount of control she has over non-verbal spells is astounding." Nora smiled at him happily, hoping that she could convey how much she appreciated his silence. The older man nodded to show he had gotten the message.

"Well enough standing around here then," Mrs. Potter said, "I need to go see Angelina about something for work."

"Agreed," Mr. Weasley replied. "Harry and you still coming over tonight for dinner Gin?"

"Of course," Mrs. Potter replied before giving Nora a meaningful glance, "Harry is quite eager to meet Nora after hearing so much about her from Al."

"Exactly how much does he talk about Nora in his letters Mrs. Potter," David asked cheekily.

"Less than you talk about Alice in yours," Al shot back causing Alice and David's faces to turn bright red in embarrassment.

"Albus," Mrs. Potter said warningly.

"I wonder if Rosie has mentioned Darren in any of her letters home," James said with an evil grin.

Mr. Weasley instantly stopped smiling and shot a look at Rose. "Darren who?" he barked.

"James!" Rose exclaimed.

"Oops," James said with fake regret, "I thought you would have told your dad about your boyfriend. That is what you guys are right?"

"Boyfriend!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed, ears turning red in anger.

* * *

It had taken a good fifteen minutes to calm Rose's dad down. Once he had been calmed down he had quickly sprung several questions on his livid daughter, who was a fraction away from strangling James in the middle of the train station. Currently Rose and Mr. Weasley were arguing loudly downstairs over whether or not she should have a boyfriend or not and she was lying on the bed in the guest bedroom that Hugo had shown her to. He then told her it was best not to get in between an argument with his dad and Rose, since it could get you accidently hexed. So, deciding that she liked her body somewhat intact, Nora was now staring at the ceiling waiting for the fighting below to stop.

As if on cue, the muffled shouts coming from downstairs stopped abruptly and the sound of someone thumping angrily up the stairs reached Nora's ears.

"Hugh!" Rose bellowed loudly.

"What?"

"Where's Nora?" Nora couldn't see Rose but she had no doubt that she looked like a bear who had just been woken up early from hibernation.

"She's in the guest room," he said in annoyance. Nora heard more loud footsteps before her door was flung open and then quickly slammed shut. Nora sat up to see Rose shaking slightly from anger and her face beat red from rage.

"Ughhhh!" she groaned loudly.

"How'd it go?" Nora asked jokingly.

"Do not even ask," she said angrily as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "He seems to think that just because Darren is sort of my boyfriend that it means I'm immediately going to have sex with him and then get pregnant."

"Sex has been known to lead to pregnancy," Nora said with a grin.

"Oh shut it," Rose snapped. "It's not like I would ever have sex with anyone right now without using a contraceptive charm. Besides I doubt I am going to be having any sex anytime soon."

"And why is that?" Nora inquired.

Rose sighed. "I am nowhere near ready for something like that. The idea of Darren – or any guy for that matter – seeing me naked is terrifying."

Nora chuckled as she moved to sit beside Rose on the end of the bed. "Amen to that."

"Wait," Rose said in confusion, "are you telling me... that you're a virgin?"

Nora gave her an irritated look. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Er..." Rose hesitated and Nora held up a hand to silence her.

"Don't answer that."

Rose gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, but you kind of convey this image that makes you seem very experienced."

"That's called having confidence Rosie," Nora replied honestly, "and that is an image you can easily have yourself you know. You're pretty, intelligent, funny and you know how to take charge of any situation. You just lack the ability to see that."

"Yes but I will never look or be like you," Rose said dejectedly, "I will always have this stupid frizzy red hair and have to live in the shadow of being the daughter of two thirds of the Golden Trio."  
"Rose," Nora said placing a comforting hand on her arm, "no one is supposed to look like me. I don't even think I'm supposed to look like me. My aura, while helpful, scares the crap out of people. Why do you think I'm still a virgin? All the guys at my old school were either terrified of me or were drooling all over me like pigs. Therefore there was not a lot for me to choose from." Rose smiled faintly and Nora continued. "And no one is asking you to be like me since you are your own person. Merlin knows that if there were two of me, the world would probably end." Nora looked over at Rose, who had calmed down considerably and was now twirling a stray curl that had fallen out of the usual bun on the back of her head. "As for your hair," Nora said distractedly as she stared at the bun on the back of her friends head, "I could probably do something to spice up your look."

"You're kidding?" Rose said brightly.

"I do not kid about hair Rosie my dear," Nora said seriously, "besides it's about time I help you show Darren who is in charge of your little friends with benefits situation."

* * *

"What the hell did you do to my sister?"

Nora was pleased with the results of her work. Rose had been gaping at herself in the mirror for at least ten minutes before Hugo had come in to ask them something only to start gawking at his sister in astonishment. Nora had been slightly surprised at the actual length of Rose's hair since she had never seen it down. She had managed to charm her hair to hang in loose curls, which fell several inches past her shoulders. Nora had then given Rose some bangs to frame her face better and charmed her hair to a shade that was slightly darker then her natural hair colour.

"I did her hair," Nora said with a smile as she leafed through a magazine.

"B-but her hair," Hugo spluttered, "it looks like... hair."

This comment snapped Rose out of her reverie and she turned around and gave her brother a dirty look. "Why thank you Hugh. Nice to know you like it."

Hugo just shook his head, "I'm just supposed to let you know that everyone is going to be here in about an hour." Hugo then turned around, still looking quite astonished and left the room.

Rose scowled. "As much as I hate agreeing with my little brother, he's right. My hair actually looks like hair."

"I'm a genius when it comes to these things."

Rose sighed. "But how am I supposed to maintain something like this? I have no idea what you did to my hair and I bet as soon as I get a little water on me, it will be frizz city all over again."

Nora grinned at her. "No it won't."

"How?" Rose asked warily.

"Well, when I was expelled half way through my fifth year I was really bored. I mastered pretty much every non-verbal spell, so I decided to invent a few spells of my own."

"And one just happened to be able to calm frizzy hair."

"Basically," Nora said with a smile. "It's just a spell that tells your hair what to do. I can easily teach it to you and all you have to do is charm daily to ensure maximum hold."

"You know something Nora," Rose said with a hint of disbelief, "just when I think I have you all figured out, you start spouting knowledge about homemade hair charms."

"Keeps your life interesting doesn't it," Nora replied.

Nora couldn't help but think that she would remember the moment she was living right now, for the rest of her life. She was, for the first time in years, having an actual family dinner. With an actual family who liked each other. Not to mention the Harry Potter was sitting across the table from her eating roast beef. Sure she wasn't drooling all over him like some kind of crazy person but she couldn't help but think how amazingly cool it was to meet him. He hadn't just defeated one of the most powerful dark lords of all time at the young age of 17 but he had also become head of the auror office when he was only 27. He, along with his friends, helped reform the ministry and wheedle out all the corrupt politicians causing its ineffectiveness in the first place. For Merlin's sake, he was on a first name basis with the Minister of Magic and apparently frequently went over to his house for summer barbecue's. So while she may not have been drooling on him, she was most definitely fantasizing about the day she could be as big of a legend as him.

"So," Harry said clearing his throat, "what is it you plan on doing when you get out of Hogwarts Nora."

Nora blinked in surprise at his question and she turned to look at him. The one problem with looking at Mr. Potter right in the face was that she felt like she was looking at Al in 30 years. It was eerie how similar the two of them looked. The same green eyes, the same messy unkempt black hair- only his had a couple of greys. They both appeared to be the same height and Nora had even noticed that they seemed very similar character wise. There only differences were that Al didn't need glasses – a trait that was only inherited by James - and he didn't have a very noticeable lightening shaped scar on his forehead. "Um... well I'm not totally sure. I've been discussing possible careers with Professor Monroe-," Nora explained but was stopped abruptly by Mr. Potter.

"I didn't know that Cassandra was discussing your options with you. How has she been lately?" Mr. Potter asked in a cheery voice, while his wife bristled slightly next to him and Mrs. Weasley looked nervously at her.

"She's good. She's sort of become my mentor, since I have temper issues and she has a lot of experience in dealing with those kinds of problems, so it's been a good fit."

"So what career paths is she recommending for you? I know your dad is in politics," Mr. Potter said. Nora had no idea how much Mr. Potter knew about her issues back home or how much she never wanted to be like her dad.

"Definitely not politics," she replied with as genuine a laugh as she could muster. Al, who was sitting beside her, slightly cringed when he noticed the negative tinge to her voice. "I was actually thinking about becoming an auror myself."

"Really," Mr. Potter said in surprise. "I was told you have the highest grades in your year."

"Not to mention she flies like a pro," James added, stuffing food into his mouth. "Dad, you should see her fly. It's bloody poetry in motion. With moves like hers she could go professional right out of school."

"James close your mouth when you chew," his mother scolded and Rose and Lily snickered at his misfortune.

Mr. Potter seemed to ignore what was going on around him and continued his conversation with Nora. "Well if you're serious about becoming auror then you will most likely be having some company from James and Al if he still feels like becoming an auror himself."

"I think it's in the genes for Potter's to get into law enforcement. We're all a bunch of do-gooders," Al muttered to her.

"Well I'm not going to become an auror," Lily declared, "I'm either going to be a quidditch player like mum was or I'll travel the world in search of magical artefacts, which I will bring back to Rosie who will then study them. Right Rosie?"

Rose laughed nervously. "Not a lot of people get into my program Lily."

"Nonsense Rose," Mrs. Weasley said, "you have perfect grades and believe me, it helps that we are your parents."

Nora looked at Rose questioningly. "What's this program about?"

"It basically involves a bunch of people analyzing ancient artefacts to prove if they are of a magical background, decipher the meanings of the languages on them and decide on whether or not they are too dangerous to still be used today. Otherwise described as an archaeologist who doesn't risk getting herself cut in half by traps in ancient temples," Rose explained.

"Sounds really cool," Nora said honestly. She hadn't known exactly what Rose had wanted to become before but now that she had heard about it, it seemed very interesting.

"I'm mostly interested in ancient languages and codes. I've been studying up in the library and have been taking ancient runes since third year so I've gotten a pretty good grasp on some ancient Hebrew, Egyptian and Norse."

"Translation, she's a giant nerd," Hugo said with a roll of his eyes.

"Is there a particular reason why you would like to become an auror Nora?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"I don't know. To do a little good in a world that often desperately needs it," she said from memory. It was a recited answer. She had used it back home and she was using it here. It wasn't that doing something good for the world was not a bad reason to get into law enforcement. It just wasn't her reason. Her reason was to show the world that _she_ could do some good.

"Well I'm sure from what I've heard about your marks, you could easily pass the entrance exams," Mr. Potter said encouragingly.

"Thanks Mr. Potter," Nora said with a distracted smile, trying to cover up her lie and avoid Al's worried gaze.

* * *

A/N- So nothing overly dramatic in this chapter but we did learn a few things about several different characters that will be important later on. Anyway please read and review since I appreciate any feedback you give me. Toodles!


	14. Christmas With The Weasley's Is Never Bo

Chapter 14- Christmas with the Weasley's is Never Boring

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine.

* * *

"Mum calm down," Hugo said with exasperation, "we're always late for everything anyway, no one was expecting us to get here on time." Mrs. Weasley gave her son a very icy look that silenced him instantly.

"Mione don't worry about it," Mr. Weasley said as the family approached a house that had more character than all six characters on the classic muggle television show Friends. It seemed that as the years progressed different editions were slapped on top of each other creating a lopsided four story house. Oddly enough she found it was much more homey then her seventeen bedroom manor back in Canada. There also appeared to be a small frozen lake and a chicken coop behind the house, which only added to the cheerful setting around her.

"It isn't anything amazing, but we practically grew up here so it's like our second home," Rose said, gesturing to her brother.

"Are you kidding, this place is awesome. You think I enjoyed growing up in my cold marble covered mansion. It was almost like my dad was against the idea of wood accents and warmth."

Mr. Weasley chuckled at Nora's comment as he opened the door to The Burrow. The next thing Nora knew a large group of ginger haired people, along with a couple of blondes and brunettes, varying in age, were crowding around the doorway greeting them excitedly. Nora was shocked at the amount of people in front of her. How many bloody Weasley's were there? She found herself trying to count all of them, when she felt a hand wrap around her arm and then pull her out of the mass of people.

"Terrifying isn't it?" Al said with a smile. It had only been a couple of days since she had last seen him but for some reason she had missed Al quite a bit.

"Al," she said excitedly and happily through herself into his arms. Al seemed to freeze slightly before he began to hug her back.

"Albus Potter, don't keep Nora all to yourself," a short old woman, with red hair streaked with white and a round face scolded, "introduce us to your friend." Standing next to her was an almost completely bald tall older men, who had a few wisps of red hair still attached to his head.

"Better listen to your grandma Al," the older man said with a chuckle. Nora guessed this was Al's grandpa.

Nora thought she saw Al blush slightly but she dismissed the idea as he cleared his throat. "Nana, grandpa, everyone, this is Nora," he declared. Before Nora could say anything, Al's grandma embraced her in a giant hug. Nora was surprised by her show of affection towards a complete stranger. Nora's grandparents had either died before she was born or had shunned her family since her dad had married a muggle and he was from a pureblood supremacist family. Yes, she was the offspring from that kind of society.

"It's lovely to meet you dear. You can just call me Molly, seeing as you appear to be one of the very few people here who are actually not related to me." This caused several people to laugh and they began to file away from the door.

"So Wilson," James said parting the horde of Weasley's and slinging his arm around his shoulder. "Do you really think you can handle our family?"

For once Nora was unsure of an answer. Why the hell was Al and Rose's family so big? Not to mention close. Her only actual family was her dad and that was a very poor example of family in anyone's books.

"Stop scaring the girl James," Mr. Potter's warm voice said from behind her and she turned and greeted him. "Nora," he said in a questioning tone after she had said hello, "would you like to talk to Teddy about his auror training?"

"What?"

Mr. Potter chuckled. "Teddy Lupin, my godson. Would you like to talk to him about his training? Since you are interested in becoming an auror like both of my sons, I thought it would be beneficial for him to talk to you as well."

Nora smiled happily at the offer, her glow shining for a second, causing James to gawk unattractively at her for a second. Mr. Potter and Al, as usual, remained unaffected. "I would love to," she gushed.

* * *

The Burrow was adorned with every Christmas decoration imaginable. But instead of the gaudy ten foot tree her father had set up in her front foyer at home, covered in fake snow and all silver and blue decorations, they're were every sort of different homemade decoration you could possibly think of. There were popcorn strings strung along the top of the rafters of the roof, strands of cranberries hung on the fireplace, along with several old stockings sewn from several years ago. In the far corner of the living room there was a freshly cut pine tree, which was covered in homemade ornaments with all of the Weasley families faces from when they were only kids. Nora was even able to recognize a picture of Al when he was probably about seven and missing his two front teeth. Wreaths and lines of tinsel were draped along the walls and there were strategically placed sprigs of mistletoe over a few doorways. And to top it all off there was a fire, burning happily in the Weasley's fireplace, casting a pleasant orange glow around the room. Nora couldn't help but smile. The last time she had, had a Christmas like this she was only nine years old. After that the holiday just became a reminder of what she was losing; of what she had lost.

"Impressive isn't it," Mr. Potter chuckled, "ever since I started school at Hogwarts when I was eleven and I met Ron I have been coming here every Christmas. This family, which I am now a part of, made me love the holidays for the first time. I've been told we're similar in that respect."

Nora looked away from Mr. Potter, who was giving her a knowing look. Her gaze quickly fell onto a tall younger man in his about his early 20's with a bright blue streak in his dusty brown hair. His arm was slung around a shockingly beautiful young woman, whose long strawberry blonde hair cascaded down her front like river of sunshine and her porcelain skin practically sparkled in the glow of the fire. And the large diamond ring on her ring finger, practically screamed 'I'm taken so back off'. Next to them both was an equally beautiful woman who only looked a couple years older than Nora. She had a head of platinum blonde curls, which were carelessly thrown up in a messy bun. She was also dressed rather impressively for someone who could only be about 18.

"Nora I would like you to meet my godson Teddy, and my nieces Victoire and Dominique," Mr. Potter said, gesturing to each person in front of her. So these were Louis' older sisters. Holy shit and she thought he looked like a model

"It's lovely to meet you," the woman with strawberry blonde hair said as she shook her hand.

"Uncle Harry could you please just call me Dom," the younger sister sighed, "Nice to meet you Nora. Have you ever thought about modeling? You have the perfect body for it."

"Down Dom," Teddy chuckled, "we're not going to try and get this one into the fashion industry. She's much more interested in coming and working with Harry and me." Nora suddenly remembered Al mentioning that his cousin Dominique was the apprentice to some high fashion designer who was very popular all across the wizarding world in Europe. No wonder she was dressed so well.

Dominique scowled. "Why is it that all the gorgeous girls want to become aurors these days? Oh well it can't be helped."

"Dom, dear, will come help me with the potatoes?" Molly called out from the kitchen.

"Coming Nana," she said with a polished voice before walking off to the kitchen.

"So Nora," Victoire said critically, turning to look at her . "You want to become an auror."

"Yup," Nora said awkwardly. Nora couldn't help but think that Victoire didn't approve of the profession at all.

Teddy chuckled and gripped his fiancee's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't mind Vic Nora, she doesn't always approve of my career choice. Lucky for us, we are living in much more peaceful times. Anyhow, I was told that you might want to ask a few questions about being an auror.

"Er- well I kind of recently decided that this was what I wanted to do with my life," Nora responded.

Teddy ignored her awkwardness and turned to look at Mr. Potter. "How are her grades Harry?" Teddy asked turning to look at his godfather.

"She apparently has better grades than Rosie."

Teddy's eyes widened in surprise and he turned his head to look at her. "Well that's one hell of an accomplishment. Rosie has better grades in her classes then I did when I was still in school. So you should have no problem entering into the ministry's training program if you keep those grades up."

"Thanks," Nora said appreciatively.

"What were your grades like in your fifth year though?" Teddy asked unaware of her expulsion. She noticed that Harry's eyes darted to look at her, waiting to see her reaction. So he did know a little something about the events of last year. She had assumed just as much. Most people would want to keep the head of the auror department informed about out of the ordinary, possibly dangerous, people entering into his jurisdiction.

Not in the mood to make up any stories, Nora decided to give Teddy a very abbreviated story of her expulsion. "Well I was expelled from my school half way through my fifth year due to some very unfortunate events, but right now I actually don't even need to be in school because I've already learned everything I need to know," Nora said with a smile. Teddy and Victoire were both wearing matching faces of shock. Nora decided to continue. "In fact I have mastered all non-verbal spells, can create any potion you can think of, I'm currently mastering the art of legilimency and I am one hell of a quidditch player because of my actual lightning fast reflexes."

"Oi Nora!" James yelled. "We're all going to have a snowball war outside. You in?"

Thankful for the distraction, Nora shouted back her answer. "Sure James, be there in a sec." Nora turned back to Teddy and Victoire and gave them a brilliant smile. "Nice meeting you guys and when I have more questions I will definitely ask Teddy." Nora then hurried off, leaving the three adults to their thoughts.

"So Harry," Teddy said slowly. "She's actually pretty important isn't she?"

"You have no idea," Harry said gravely.

* * *

Dinner was an extravagant affair. It wasn't like all the food was fancy or anything, there was just enough of it to feed a small African country for a month. There were heaping bowls of mashed potatoes, a huge turkey, a ham, a slab of roast beef, plates of steaming carrots and beans, baskets of freshly baked bread, several bowls of cranberry sauce, candied yams, two different kinds of stuffing, and an ornate gravy boat filled to the brim with the most amazing smelling gravy Nora had ever smelt.

"Dig in everyone," Nana Molly said, her pink cheeks practically glowing from happiness. And with that order, a good 30 people attacked the large amount of food on the table with fervour.

"Don't just sit there Nora," Lily whispered urgently as she grabbed the beans from Louis, "get some food before Fred and James eat it all. Not to mention Uncle Ron." Nora looked over at the man who was allowing her to live with him and almost erupted in laughter when she saw he was having an eating contest with his two nephews, while his wife wore the most embarrassed expression she had ever seen.

After dinner was finished dessert was quickly brought out in the form of 5 different kinds of pies varying from pumpkin to strawberry rhubarb, pumpkin pasties and a ten layer trifle. Nora had to hand it to Molly Weasley. Nora had dined at some of the most fancy, most expensive, restaurants in North America but nothing compared to this lady's cooking.

Later on that night Arthur Weasley, who was seated at one of the ends of the table, stood up as people were finishing their dessert. "Once everyone has finished up in here, we'll all go into the family room to open up gifts," he announced.

Nora had only bought a couple gifts for people. She had bought Rose a book on ancient runes and artefacts, since she had been gushing for days about how crucial it would be to her studies, and a promise to teach her as many spells as she wanted on how to tame her hair. She had gotten Alice a silver charm necklace, David a broom maintenance kit and Andy a book on the art of seduction and a giant box of chocolate fudge, which he might actually like more than women.

Al had been a much harder person to find a present for. He had turned into one of the best friends she had ever had in her entire life and he was one of the first few people she found she could be completely herself around. Therefore, she was not about to get him a box of chocolates and a nice sweater. So with quite a bit of thought she had ended up getting him something he would actually use a lot for the next few years of her life.

Since her father was the head of the defence sector of the Ministry of Magic back in Canada he always seemed to get discounts on anything that involved auror stuff or illegal dark magic items – there was some weird stuff in her basement. Therefore she had gotten her father to order a defense against the dark arts trainer's kit from this very high end defence against the dark arts store that was in Ottawa, Ontario. The store mainly advertised towards the rich and the paranoid, since they sold every kind of defence magic items you could possibly think of.

The defense trainer's kits were often purchased by young auror's in Canada since it was that practical. It contained a book on well-known and slightly unknown defensive spells, a sneakoscope, a foe-glass, a secrecy sensor, a small bag of floo powder and a wand holder. To a regular person, this assembly of items would not seem like much, but the defence shop in Ottawa- which actually did not have a name so that it could remain undetectable to outsiders- was horribly expensive. The trainer's kits regular price usually went for about 600 galleons and it was because each item was almost damage proof, could work properly for a good 30-40 years and over all they were really attractive looking items. While she may not have payed 600 galleons for the package, she had payed about 100 instead, which was still a lot for a guy who was just her friend. She had no idea why she had gotten him such an expensive gift but for some reason buying him the cheap stuff had just seemed stupid.

Once dessert was finished – Rose's dad, James and Fred had about 4 servings – everyone filed into the small living room and gathered around the Weasley's elaborately decorated Christmas tree, with several dozen wrapped presents beneath it.

"Now everyone sit down or we will be in here all night," Molly exclaimed to her entire family, "Arthur, you give out all the presents as usual and then we will all unwrap them as we please." With that order the entire Weasley clan found a seat and Arthur Weasley began to levitate presents to their respected owners.

Nora could not disguise the smile that spread across her face as a respectable pile of presents began to form in front of her. It had been awhile since she had received anything that was wrapped in red and green striped paper that said 'Merry Christmas' on it. Usually her dad would just write her a cheque Christmas morning and tell her to do whatever she wanted with it. Over all there usually wasn't a lot of Christmas spirit in the Wilson home around the holidays.

Nora had gotten presents from David, Alice, Rose and Andy, as she had expected, but there was also a small gift from Rose's parents and a huge lumpy one from Nana Molly and Arthur. Upon inspection Nora noticed that she didn't have a present from Al and she looked over at him in confusion. He quickly noticed the look she was giving him and grinned broadly.

"Don't worry, we'll exchange gifts later," he whispered in her ear and began to attack the presents in front of him, but not before placing the one from her behind him, as if showing her that he was saving it. Nora's heart swelled involuntarily and she quickly turned her head to distract herself with unwrapping her own presents.

After she had finished opening her presents, Nora surveyed the haul that Christmas had brought this year. She had received hand knit sweater-much like the rest of the Weasley's-with a large golden 'N' on it from Molly and Arthur, along with a tin of homemade fudge. A book about advanced quidditch skills and tricks from David, a pretty royal blue scarf from Alice, a ticket to an upcoming football game in the summer between Manchester United and West Ham (since she was the only one in the group that appreciated muggle sports) and an 'I'm Canadian' t-shirt as a joke. A golden quill and a book on wizarding history that was insanely detailed from Rose and a pair of golden topaz hearings from Rose's parents along with an invitation to stay at their house for Easter break, which she planned on accepting.

"Nora dear," Molly's jolly voice exclaimed later that night, "I hope you enjoyed your first Christmas with us."

"Oh I did," Nora said with a genuine smile, "best Christmas I've had in a long time."

"Well that is wonderful dear," Molly said happily and then started to frown at something behind Nora, "I'm sorry dear," she said disapprovingly, "but I have to prevent two of my eldest grandsons from drawing on Percy's face." Molly then brushed past her and headed straight for Fred and James, grabbing them both by the ears and dragging them into the kitchen to berate them for acting like ten year olds.

"You have to love Nana. You will never find a happier but tougher person in all of England," Al's voice drifted to her ears from behind her. Nora's stomach flipped slightly at the sound of it but she ignored it and turned around to see Al holding her present to him in his arms along with a poorly wrapped box.

"Is that mine?" Nora said pointing at the other present in his arms.

Al looked down at the parcels in his arms and looked back up with a grin. "Of course and I think you are going to like it." Nora reached out to take it from him but Al jerked his arm away before she could reach it. Nora shot him an exasperated look.

"If it's mine, why can't I have it?"

Al chuckled. "Come on," he said beckoning for her to follow him as he began to walk toward the staircase, "I want to show you something."

Nora shot him a puzzled look and followed him warily up the winding staircase, to what appeared to be the highest room in the house. Al strode across the bedroom, which had bright orange walls, to the window. "We can open our presents here," he announced as he stared out the window.

"Okay," Nora said in confusion, "why are we up here?"

"It's part of your present," he replied, "but I think I'll open your gift first just to be sure if I actually want to give you mine. After all you could have gotten me some ugly Christmas sweater."

"Ha ha," Nora said sarcastically, "just open the present."

Al just grinned as he set down Nora's present on the floor beside him and then attacked the wrapping paper covering his gift. Nora bit her lip in anticipation as an unwanted bundle of nerves began to form in her stomach. What the hell was wrong with her? Al was just a friend she was giving a gift to, nothing more!

"Holy crap," Nora heard Al's voice exclaim, snapping her out of her reverie.

"You like it?" Nora asked hopefully.

"This is the nicest thing anyone has ever gotten me," Al gushed his head moving up from staring at his present to look at her, "how much did this bloody cost?"

"I have connections, so I got this stuff pretty cheap," Nora explained, trying to avoid disclosing how much she actually did pay for his gift.

"This sneakoscope has gold on it and it says it's guaranteed to last me for a good 40 years! Where did you find this stuff?" Al said in astonishment as he leafed through the defence spell book.

"There's this shop in Ottawa that specializes in catering to the rich and paranoid but since my dad is so important in the Ministry I can get their merchandise really cheap."

"Something tells me that we have very different versions of cheap Nora," Al said distractedly, "I have never even heard of some of these spells. Are you sure that they're all legal?"

"Yes," Nora said impatiently trying to change the subject, "now am I ever going to get my present or do I have to wait until next Christmas before I can get it?"

"Someone's impatient," Al said jokingly before putting on a serious face, "okay, there are two parts to your present. The first is something that everyone who visits The Burrow should always see in the winter and the second is just what I got you, which definitely did not cost as much what you got me."

Nora scowled, "So what are you showing me?"

"Right," Al said with a smile, "come over here." Nora arched an eyebrow in Al's direction and made her way over to his side by the window. "Now look out the window."

"What?"

"Just look out the window Nora," Al said with an exasperated sigh.

Nora glared at him and then turned her gaze so that she was looking out the window only to gasp at the sight she be held in front of her. The Burrow's entire backyard was covered in a sheet of fluffy white snow that glittered beautifully in the moonlight. The small pond in the back of the property had been recently shovelled off so it now resembled a mirror that had been carved into the ground and was now reflecting the moon's image for the entire sky to see. To top off the magnificent scene in front of her, small snowflakes were falling lazily from the sky, making the night seem even more peaceful than before.

Nora just gawked at the idyllic scene in front of her unsure of what to say. "What do you think?" Al said, finally speaking.

"It's breathtaking," Nora said in a stunned voice, "if you ever wanted to seduce a girl, this would be an amazing place to do it."

"Duly noted," Al said in a voice that Nora swore she felt had a double meaning to it. "Now you can open the present I got you."

"I think I'd like anything you got me after that view," Nora said, as she reluctantly tore her gaze away from the window to look at the poorly wrapped box in front of her in Al's hands. Nora took it from him and sat down. Al followed her example and slid into the spot next to her on the old hardwood floor.

"So should I be expecting anything mushy," Nora said, fully aware she was being a pain in the ass, "because after that little show I'm starting to get the feeling that you want to be more then my friend." Nora immediately stopped smirking when she saw the serious look on Al's face.

"Just open the present Nora," he said in an intense voice that made the hairs on the back of Nora's neck stand on end.

"Fine," Nora said in a shaky voice. Nora easily pulled away the Christmas tree wrapping paper from the silver box it was failing to hide. Noticing that there was a lid on top of the box Nora pulled it off to reveal, nestled in black velvet, an ornate silver framed mirror with a small amethyst embedded at the top of the mirror's handle.

"You got me a really fancy mirror?" Nora said with both pleasure and confusion.

"It's not just any mirror," Al explained with a chuckle, "it's a two-way mirror."

"Really?"

"Yup," Al replied in a pleased voice, "let me show you." With those words Al sprung up from his spot on the floor and walked out of the room. Nora watched him close the door behind him as he left and then heard the door of the room nearest her open with a creek. What the hell was he doing?

"Nora," Al's voice called out suddenly, causing Nora to jump in surprise.

"Al?"

"Look in the mirror," Al replied back.

Nora looked down into the box in her lap to see Al's face staring back at hers. "Wow. You do know your face is floating in my mirror right now."

"Good," Al said happily, "that means they work. I'm coming back by the way."

Al's face disappeared from the mirror and a moment later the room's door reopened and Al walked back into the room, a mirror identical to Nora's clutched in his hand.

"Where did you get these?" Nora said in awe as Al sat down in his seat next to her.

"Well my dad knew this guy who was looking to get rid of all of this old junk in his basement a couple of weeks ago," Al explained, "and when he went over there he found these mirrors, which the guy was giving away for only 50 galleons for some reason. So, my dad sent me a letter asking me if I wanted these mirrors since he had his own when he was a kid and it had gotten him out of a few tough situations. I said sure and paid the money myself thinking that one of them would be a perfect present for you."

"Why is that?" Nora asked as she traced her finger along the edge of the mirror.

"Well," Al said clearing his throat, "you may not like to show it or want anyone to know, but I know you hate being alone." Nora stopped what she was doing with those words and turned her head to look at Al with wide eyes. Al seemed to falter slightly upon seeing Nora's face but he continued. "So, while you don't like to talk about what happened back in Canada that led to you coming here, I still know that you were pretty much alone there. Which got me thinking; why not get you a gift that would show you that you were no longer alone? That this was your home now and there were people here who cared about you. That's why I got you the mirror; to show you that I will always be there for you, no matter what."

With those last few words, Nora felt something change. Her heart began to race madly as she stared into Al's eyes as it tried to catch up with the thoughts that were racing through her mind. No one and she meant no one had ever given her anything like this. Her father had never given her anything like this, even before her mother had died, none of her old friends and even her mother, who had loved her dearly, but never had the chance to give her something like this. But Al, a guy she had only known for about 4 months, had managed to shatter all expectations fantastically. And with that thought Nora's heart swelled, breaking the invisible walls she had been building up around it ever since she was a little girl.

Nora placed the box, with the most treasured gift she had ever received inside of it, on the floor beside her gently. Once she was sure it was safe she suddenly flung her arms around Al's neck, letting a single tear role down her face to show just how happy she was.

Al had been surprised by her sudden hug but he quickly recovered and hugged her back. After several minutes of just remaining in that one position, Al finally broke the silence with a question. "So I'm guessing that you like my gift?"

Nora let out a muffled laugh. "I love it," she said honestly. And Nora wasn't lying. She didn't just love the gift because of why Al had gotten it for her. No, she loved it also because of what it now represented.

"Well that's good since I was afraid you'd think it was overly sappy or something," Al confessed with a sigh of relief.

Nora smiled. "Girls really like these sorts of things. Don't less us fool you."

She loved it because it now represented the moment when she realized she was in love with Albus Potter.

* * *

A/N- Awwwww!!! So adorable and mushy. I just couldn't help myself. However, for the sake of plot development I can honestly say the happiness will not last. Bwahahaha!!! Anyway please read and review and thank you to everyone who has. Toodles!


	15. Revelations

Chapter 15- Revelations

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, so please do not sue me since I have no money to give away at the moment

* * *

Rose, in the four months she had known her, had never seen Nora this happy. Ever since Christmas she had been a bubble of positive energy. This for her meant less sarcasm and vacant looks that hinted to how unfortunate her past must have been.

"You look amazing in that dress Rose," Nora complimented.

Rose tried to mask a look of confusion as she stared at herself in the mirror. Yup, something happened on Christmas and Rose was going to find out what it was tonight before she died of curiosity.

"You think so?" Rose replied, surveying her reflection in the mirror.

"Yup you should definitely wear this dress to the gala tonight."

Rose sighed at that last word. Gala. Tonight was the Ministry's annual New Year's Eve Gala, which basically meant all the important people in the wizarding world got dressed all fancy and then sucked up to their superiors.

Unfortunately this meant people, who Rose could care less about, were always trying to talk to her and her family, which got annoying very quickly. However, David and Alice would be there and for the first time Nora, who could attract attention by just standing against a wall and yawning three miles away from any form of civilization.

"I was thinking it kind of makes me look like I'm twenty-five."

"Isn't that kind of the point?" Nora said with a snort.

Rose smiled weakly as she stared at herself in the mirror. She was currently wearing a dress that Nora had picked out for her specifically. It was tight-fitted around the bodice but flowed away gracefully from her waist, made of silk, strapless and made her boobs look 2 cup sizes bigger then what they really were. Not to mention it was a stunning shade of dark green, that made her flaming red hair stand out like a beacon.

"I still don't think that my dad will let me outside the house in this," Rose said warily, turning to look at Nora who was sitting on her bed, already dressed in her gown. As usual Nora looked stunning. She was wearing a skin tight red halter dress without a back and a slit in the front so that her long toned legs appeared from for everyone to admire.

"I cleared it with your mom so you're good to go. Besides, once your dad sees me in this he's going to have a heart attack," she said with a chuckle.

"Fine I'll wear it. But I won't be happy about it."

Nora chuckle again. "It's too bad that Darren's mom or dad isn't important enough to be invited to this thing. He would probably lose it if he ever saw you like this. There would probably be drool everywhere."

Rose scowled. Yes Darren was not coming, which Rose continued to thank Merlin for. No Darren meant no embarrassing moments caused by her father tackling him to the ground for coming near her.

"Is Malfoy going to be at this thing?" Nora suddenly asked. Rose's head turned suddenly and she stared at Nora in confusion.

"Yes, he always is," Rose replied. "Unfortunately his family still does give a lot of money to the ministry and Draco Malfoy married a pureblood whose family never had anything to do with Voldemort."

"Hmm good to know," Nora said as she causally flipped a light brown curl behind her shoulder. Great, Nora was up to something again and that was usually never a good thing.

"Rosie dear, would you and Nora come downstairs soon. We need to get going," Rose's mum called from downstairs.

Nora stood up upon hearing Rose's mum call from below. "Come on Rose, time to go," Nora said in a voice that had a hint of excitement to it. "It's time for you to show the world just how much you've grown up."

Rose scowled she didn't like the direction this night was taking. Was she really ready to have her face plastered across the Daily Prophet reading 'Rosie: Grown Up or Just Playing?' No, she wasn't sure she liked that.

* * *

"'Mione, she's my daughter, I will not allow her in that room dressed like that."

"Oh Ronald, she is barely showing anything. Nora is showing far more skin than Rose is."

"Yes, but Nora is not my daughter while Rose still is. Right Hugh?"

"Why am I a part of this?" Hugo protested.

"She's your sister. You should not want her dressed up like this outside!" Rose's dad exclaimed, as Rose buried her head in her hands in embarrassment. The entire limo ride to the Gala had consisted of Rose's mum and dad arguing about what she was wearing, Nora chuckling under her breath and Hugo being torn between not caring what was going on around him, saying something to defend her dad or staring at Nora's legs.

"Honestly Ronald, we have been sitting inside this limo for about ten minutes. We have to get out at some point," Rose's mum said in exasperation.

"Not until my only daughter puts on a jacket," Rose's dad yelled angrily.

Rose had officially had enough of her parents bickering, so she decided it was time to try something gutsy. With a sigh of disbelief she grabbed the latch on the door next to her and pushed open the limo door to the flashes of reporter's cameras. "Come on Nora, Hugh, I'm kind of sick of this," she said angrily. Nora gave her an approving look and Rose stepped out of the limo, ignoring her dad spluttering with rage behind her.

Rose stepped warily on to the cobblestone walkway that was a part of Kingsley Shacklebolt's –Minister of Magic and good friend of her parents- very large mansion's grounds. Everyone who had ever been elected into the Minister of Magic position lived at Sable House, which was named after the original architect. The house was surrounded by extensive grounds that were covered in magnificent evergreen trees, a well placed fountain, extensive stone pathways through its huge garden and the driveway was a patchwork of well placed granite stones, that shimmered in the lights of the floating lanterns that lined the driveway. Rose stared up at the several hundred year old house. It was clear that it has been fixed up over the years, but each architect had stayed with the medieval theme it gave off. The walls were made of large slate coloured stones and the windows were large and arched, some even with stained glass accents.

Rose moved forward, not stopping to talk to any of the reporters as they bombarded her with questions. She had learned the 'no comment' lesson a long time ago. Rose was so focused at not looking back at the limo or tripping on her dress in her heels that she barely noticed that the flashing cameras had stopped. Rose looked behind her curiously to see Nora giving off a faint glow and all the reporters, event staff and a few other guests who were just arriving had stopped what they were doing just to stare at her.

Rose rolled her eyes as Nora winked at her. Rose smiled back in response; Nora may not seem like the ideal friend at times but she sure had a way of knowing when to take unwanted attention off of you when you really wanted her to.

The lull did not last long though. Once everyone had gotten over Nora's eerie way of mesmerizing people when she turned it off, the clicking of cameras started up again and Rose and her family- plus Nora-had to be escorted into the Minister's mansion with the help of auror's since Nora now seemed to be their new favourite person. Her dress was also not helping either.

Fortunately Rose and her family managed to make it into the ballroom relatively unscathed. Rose continued to stare around at her surroundings as one of the hosts for the catering service directed her family and Nora to where they would be sitting for the evening.

Even though Rose had been coming to the same party since she was 13, she still had yet to get over how beautiful the room looked every year. This year the room was set up to look like a winter wonderland. Large white frosted evergreen trees had been placed in the four corners of the room, all four of them almost reaching the top of the 30 foot walls. The just below the ceiling the air was covered in hundreds of floating glowing white lanterns, which gave the room a softer feel than regular lights would. The old stone walls appeared to have been charmed to look as if they had frost on them and the several dozen tables that were set up on one end of the ballroom were draped in white silky table cloths, with all silver and crystal utensils adorning them, literally making the tables sparkle.

But the one thing that made Rose's mouth drop was some of the most excellent charm work she had ever seen. The area of the ballroom that had been left open for the dance floor and the band had been charmed to look exactly like fresh ice. At first Rose had thought it was actually real ice and she was never going to go over there for the fear of cracking her head open, but she watched as all the staff that had been hired for the event hurried across it as if it were just a tiled floor.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, you and your children and-?"

"Nora Wilson," Nora responded with a dazzling smile, which made the host blink dazedly.

"Er- yes," the younger man said clearing his throat in embarrassment, "you will be sitting with the Potter's for the night as requested."

"Thank you," Rose's mum said to the host as he pulled the seat out for her to sit down, which she took with a polite nod. Rose watched in amusement as Nora grabbed the nearest seat to her and sat down without a thought. She chuckled as he host pulled out her chair and she sat down with a thank you, however, the host was not paying much attention to her because he was staring at Nora as if she were some sort of figment of his imagination.

"I can't believe we beat Uncle Harry dad," Hugo said in astonishment as he sat down beside Rose.

"Not by much Hugh," a familiar voice said behind Rose and she turned to see James grinning broadly at her, followed by Al - both in expensive dress robes - ,Lily who was wearing a midnight blue dress that made her look even prettier then usual, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny.

"Whoa there Rosie, you went all out for this thing this year. You do remember that Darren doesn't get invited to these things," he said cheekily earning him a smack from his mother.

"James," she said in exasperation, "could you, just for once, please behave yourself."

"You look good Rosie," Al said with a smile as he sat down next to Hugo. Rose watched as his eyes moved to where Nora was sitting and for the first time ever Al's eyes glazed over as he looked at her. Rose looked beside her to see Nora looking the other way with a broad smile on her face. Yup, she was well aware that he was staring at her and she was definitely enjoying the attention.

The smile on Nora's face suddenly turned from pleasure to mischievous before Rose could even bat an eye. Nora turned and continued to smile. "Hey Lily, you want to see the rest of me and Rose's dresses?"

"If you dressed her Nora, of course," Lily said as she sat down next to Al and Rose's dad scowled angrily.

Nora stood up and pulled Rose up with her. Nora did a slight twirl showing off the lack of fabric on the back of her dress and Rose just sighed heavily at how annoying Nora was being and she turned her head, only to lock eyes with someone she was planning on never going near the entire night.

Scorpius Malfoy was staring at her from the next table over, mouth parted slightly in astonishment and his eyes had the same glazed look that Al's had, had only a moment before. As Rose stared back she realized she was blushing profusely at the intense look Malfoy was giving her and she quickly turned her head and sat down.

"Isn't it such a nice green," Nora said as she was discussing dresses with Lily.

"Kind of looks like Slytherin green if you ask me," Hugo whispered to Al but Rose still heard and gave him a horrified look in response. Slytherin green! Rose turned to look back at Malfoy, who was still staring at her and doing something that she had never seen him do.

Malfoy was currently giving her a very sexy lopsided grin that made Rose's stomach flutter involuntarily. Rose turned her head around yet again. Yes, something bad was going to happen tonight. Malfoy smiling was a very obvious sign of the end of the world.

Rose looked at Nora, who smiled, lifted her glass in a show of cheer and winked. Rose gave her the dirtiest look she could muster in response. Nora continued to smile happily. Just as she thought, Nora's plans usually never meant pleasure for anyone who was a part of them.

* * *

Nora was in a good mood. A very good mood. Dinner had been excellent, the Minister of Magic's speech had actually been entertaining and Al had been staring at her the whole night. Not to mention Rose had gotten Scorpius Malfoy to crack a smile just by looking pretty.

"Kingsley, Natalia, I would like you to meet Nora," Mr. Potter said, snapping Nora back to reality. Nora turned to shake hands with a tall fit looking black man with a large gold hoop earring in one ear, who looked like he could be in his late 50's. Next to him was a woman with caramel coloured skin who looked to be about Mr. Potter's age.

"Pleasure to meet you both," Nora said politely. Nora knew better then to turn on the charm right now. If all went according to plan this man would one day be her boss.

"Likewise Nora," Shacklebolt said in a low baritone voice, "may I introduce my better half, my wife Natalia."

"Lovely to meet you Nora," the woman said in a thick Spanish accent.

"Lovely to meet you as well," Nora said with a smile, trying to hide the fact that she found the woman in front of her freakishly attractive. Well done Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"So, you have yet to finish school and people are already talking about your talents," Shacklebolt said with a broad smile. Talents huh? The Minister of Magic obviously knew about her powers and he was no idiot by the looks of the things.

"Why thank you sir," Nora responded politely.

"As long as everything remains in order for your next couple years of school, which by the sounds of things so far they have, there will definitely be a place open for you at the Ministry."

Nora knew there was always a catch. As long as everything remains in order, of course. Nora instantly remembered the lesson where Monroe had told her that she was 'someone they dreamed of controlling'. Nora had no doubt in her mind that Shacklebolt was very good at his job, which probably made it obvious for him that she would be an excellent addition to the auror department, or any department for that matter, as long as she was kept in check.

"Of course sir. I can honestly say that I can't wait for school to end." Unfortunately for Kingsley Shacklebolt, she would act like a good little girl for as long as necessary and then as soon as he realized how important she was, she would show the world that there was no controlling Nora Wilson.

Rose watched in mild interest as the Minister of Magic and Nora bantered back and forth. She had given up a long time ago on what they were talking about, but she could guess that it had something to do with Nora becoming an auror. It was Rose's personal belief that Shacklebolt would have to be mentally retarded to not realize Nora was going to be a very important person some day.

"Hey Rosie," she heard a familiar voice call out and Rose turned in her seat to see David walking towards her.

"Hey Dave, how's your night going?"

"Oh the usual," David replied as he sat down in the seat next to her, "talking to old people who just want to be friends with my dad because he's rich and influential in the Ministry. Nothing Earth shattering."

Rose grinned. "Anything else up?"

David seemed to hesitate before he responded to Rose's question. "Actually, yes."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well - you see - I like... this girl," David replied tentatively.

"Alice?" Rose responded bluntly.

"How did you know?" David exclaimed loudly in embarrassment, causing a few heads to turn in their direction. "Did Andy, Al or Nora tell you?"

"Dave," Rose said with a sigh, "everyone but Alice knows that you like her."

David blushed profusely at her statement. "I don't know what to do about it," he said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?"

David hunched down slightly and stared at her pointedly. "I mean I don't know how I should ask her out," he said with a whisper.

Rose smiled warmly at her friend. "Dave, please never change."

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Rose said with a wave of her hand. "Now if you are actually going to ask Alice out, just take her for a walk around Hogwarts. She loves the grounds during the winter and maybe give her a rose. She adores all that romantic stuff."

David smiled broadly. "Thanks Rosie."

"I'm here to please."

David laughed and changed the subject. "So did you get my money in the mail for Nora's present?"

"Yup, I got the gift the other day and either Al or I will give it to her tonight. But with the way those two have been acting I'm going to guess that Al is going to give her, her gift."

David nodded. "He's practically slobbering all over her and she's loving every moment of it. If something monumental doesn't happen tonight I will eat my shoes."

"It's too bad Alice and Andy aren't here to see this," Rose commented as she watched Al stare at Nora as she continued to talk to Kingsley Shacklebolt, his wife and Uncle Harry.

"Ya, Andy would get one hell of a kick out of this," David replied, "well I better get going. My mum is probably wondering where I am." With that statement David stood up and Rose said bye, still happy about the news that David wanted to finally ask Alice out.

"Weasley," a silky voice greeted.

Rose turned her head to see Malfoy holding a crystal wine glass with what looked like red wine sloshing around inside of it. She stared at it and raised a brow in his direction.

"I turned 17 a couple of weeks ago Weasley. What I'm doing is perfectly legal," he said in a bored voice.

"That's nice Malfoy," she responded sarcastically, still not over Malfoy smiling at her for the first time ever, "So what do you want?"

"Malfoy took a sip if his wine and then stared intently at her as if contemplating what he should say next. Rose fidgeted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze.

"I guess I just wanted to talk a little about some things I've noticed tonight."

"Like what?" Rose snapped.

Rose thought a ghost of a smile graced Malfoy's face for only a second and Rose almost asked him whether or not he was drunk. This smiling thing was not normal behaviour for him. "Like Potter drooling all over Wilson all night and Wilson actually enjoying it," Malfoy replied, taking a seat next to Rose. Rose inhaled sharply at how close he was getting. What was he up to?

"And what's wrong with them fancying each other?"

"Nothing," Malfoy replied nonchalantly, "Just that I recently saw someone from Potter's past who may throw a wrench into this blossoming relationship," he said in a disgusted tone and Rose shot him a dirty look but Malfoy continued on like he hadn't noticed, "say if she were to talk to Wilson at any point tonight."

"What?" Rose said in confusion.

"Wilson obviously has trust issues. So Weasley, try to think. What would happen if someone were to tell her that Albus Potter isn't as perfect as she thinks he is?" Malfoy explained.

Rose's eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what Malfoy was talking about. And then it hit her like a bat to the head. Rose's eyes widened in realization and she gasped. "She's here?" she exclaimed loudly.

Malfoy raised a brow in her direction, as if he were asking her 'what do you think?'

"Oh shit," Rose cursed as she began to frantically search the room with her eyes, but she quickly stopped when a question popped into her head. "Wait. Why are you telling me this? You despise Al, Nora has said barely anything to you since she's gotten here and last time I checked we weren't exactly on the greatest terms."

Malfoy's lip curled angrily at that statement. "That brings me to another thing I noticed this evening," Malfoy said cryptically and he turned his head and looked straight into Rose's eyes and for some unknown reason, Rose was unable to look away. "I noticed that you were the most stunning person in the room tonight," Malfoy said suddenly and Rose blinked in surprise. And the surprise was not just at his statement but the matter of fact tone to his voice. "And as for why I just told you all of this, just remember I could care less how Wilson or Potter's lives turn out at the moment, but you however are a different story. I know how bad you are with conflicts, so I decided to let you know much to the displeasure of certain people," Malfoy explained in a tone that could only be described as confusion.

Rose was too shocked by Malfoy's revelation to register that he had immediately stood up after he had finished talking and walked away without saying goodbye before she could say anything in response. Once Rose had broken out of her shock she couldn't help but think 'what the bloody hell had just happened?' Rose then wisely decided to push all thoughts of Malfoy to the back of her mind and to go look for the person who could destroy Nora and Al's relationship even before it got started.

* * *

Nora looked up at the clock. 11:45 PM. Fifteen minutes until she officially turned 17.

"Hey there birthday girl," someone greeted her from behind. A smile quickly spread across her face and she turned around to see Al grinning at her, present in hand.

"It's not quite my birthday yet," Nora responded playfully.

"Oh well, close enough. I'm kind of sick of carrying this thing around, since people are starting to stare," Al joked, "it's also from all of us by the way."

"I don't think I should open my present until my birthday Al," Nora scolded lightly as her heart began to beat faster just by watching Al run his hand through his hair.

"Alright party pooper," Al said, "how about I give you an early birthday present from me instead."

"Like what?" Nora asked, trying to hide and signs of over-excitement.

"How about-," Al said peering around the room as if looking for something, "How about a dance from me?"

On the inside Nora was jumping up and down in excitement but on the outside the only show of pleasure she released was a loud laugh. "A dance? Really? Well, I guess I could accept that."

At her statement Al gave her a mock bow and extended his hand for her to take. She happily placed her hand in his and the effect was instantaneous.

It was as if by touching she had suddenly developed tunnel vision since all she could see was him pulling her towards the dance floor. She didn't notice Dave sending Al a suggestive thumbs up, Malfoy staring at them in interest, Rose's frantic looking face as she looked though the room and a girl with long blonde hair wearing a pretty violet coloured dress, giving Al and her a very scrutinizing look.

Nora could barely remember how she had gotten her arms around Al's neck or how his hands had gotten to their place on her lower back, but she sure as hell didn't care about any of this as she stared up into his eyes.

"So?" Al questioned, pulling Nora out of her daze, "Pretty good last minute present huh?"

"Ya," Nora responded softly, unable to act confident and aloof any longer. She felt as if his emerald green eyes were sucking her in and she had no hope in hell of ever escaping.

Al seemed to notice her sudden change in character and his joking face quickly turned serious. "You look beautiful tonight Nora," he said honestly, his face never once faltering.

"Thanks Al. You don't look so bad yourself," Nora said in attempt to be funny but instead failed miserably since her voice sounded far too distant to be joking.

His expression still serious, Al began to lean his head towards her and pulled her closer to his body at the same time. Nora suddenly began to panic slightly. She remembered how her last relationship had ended, which was not well, and she sure as hell didn't want that to happen again.

Then a little reassuring voice popped into her head. This is Albus Potter, the nicest, sweetest guy she had ever met. She would be risking more by not showing her feelings for him. And with that thought she began to lean towards him and she noticed him smile slightly by her positive reaction to his advances, causing butterflies to explode in a flurry of action inside of her stomach.

Nora was only a fraction away from kissing Al flat on the mouth, when suddenly someone knocked her out of his arms. Nora stumbled in surprise and looked back to see an older looking man and woman apologizing profusely to Al, who was beat red from embarrassment.

"Blimey Claire, we ran straight into one of Harry Potter's sons."

"Really Roger? Well I'll be. Albus right dear? I'm Claire Little and this is my husband Roger. Roger here used to work with your father before he retired."  
Nora just gawked at the pair of people who had literally stolen Al away from her and Al just kept mouthing apologies to her as they literally pulled him away from his spot on the dance floor to the nearest table.

Nora couldn't help but laugh in bewilderment. So this was when the higher powers were planning on playing a practical joke on her. Freaking hilarious guys.

Too busy thinking about how the higher beings of the universe were all a bunch of assholes, Nora failed to notice where she was going and, to her surprise, she walked straight into a girl with long straight blonde hair wearing a pretty violet dress.

"Oh Merlin," Nora said apologetically, "I'm so sorry. This had actually not been my night at all." And with that thought, Nora heard the voices of people beginning to count down around her and she turned to see the clock suddenly strike midnight.

Perfect," Nora said in disbelief as the people around her celebrated the beginning of the year 2023, "I'm celebrating the New Year and my 17th birthday with a complete stranger."

"I'm sorry," the girl said in an offended tone.

Nora sighed. "Sorry," she said and extended her hand to the girl, "I'm Nora Wilson."

The girl took it and shook it firmly, "Rebecca Stanley. I saw you dancing with Albus Potter over there."

"Oh you know him?" Nora asked in interest.

"Know him?" Rebecca snorted, "I dated him."

"What? He's never mentioned you. Come to think of it," Nora said, scrutinizing her, "I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"That's because I don't go to Hogwarts anymore," Rebecca replied bitterly. "I had to transfer schools."

"Why?" Nora asked.

"Because Albus Potter only goes for mysterious girls," she said angrily.

Something unknown seemed to fall in the pit of Nora's stomach. "What do you mean?"

"Albus Potter had only dated three girls in his Hogwarts career. Mya Harrington – a 4th year at the time- in his third year. She was really quiet but sarcastic at the same time. It kind of hinted to something dark and mysterious from her past. They dated for about 2 months and then Al broke it off with her. Five days later the entire school had learned that her father was actually some psycho who had killed a muggle family four years earlier. She ended up transferring out due to all the controversy and everyone bullying her for it." Nora just gaped as Rebecca continued. "In fourth year, Al dated Kara Welsh."

"That really disturbed goth girl from Ravenclaw?" Nora asked, remembering the name, her insides beginning to churn unhappily.

"Oh ya," Rebecca replied, "she used to be normal. She started dating Al in the middle of fourth year and they dated for three months before Potter broke it off. A week later everyone knew that she was bulimic and she basically went downhill from there."

Nora was shocked by what she was hearing. It was honestly sounding like Al was dating only certain girls and once he dumped them, there darkest secrets were revealed to the world.

"And then there was me last year," she said angrily. "I had been dating Al for about 4 months and he kept pressing me about why I was so secretive about what my parents did for a living and like an idiot, I told him."

"And?" Nora croaked, not really wanting to hear what she had to say.

"And two weeks later he tossed me to the curb 'claiming he did not see me as a girlfriend anymore but more as a friend' and then two weeks after people at school knew exactly what they did for a living. When my mum and dad found out about what was going on, practically everyone in the school had to be obliviated and I had to transfer schools because it was a matter of national security."

"Are you sure that he actually told anyone these things?" Nora said, hoping that there was a silver lining to this story.

"I'm not sure about Kara or Mya, but I know for a fact that he was the only person I told about my parents," she said in a heated voice. "Albus Potter broke my heart, spilled my darkest secrets to the entire school and got me transferred to a school in Austrialia in only the span of a couple of weeks."

"Oh Merlin," Nora said in a horrified voice and she leaned against the table next to her for support.

"I'm not being the jealous ex-girlfriend, I swear," Rebecca said apologetically, "but you should know that Albus Potter only goes for 'mysterious' girls, just so he can find out their-,"

"Just to find out there secrets," Nora said in a faraway voice, as she remembered all the times Al had wanted to know more about her.

"Ya," Rebecca replied. "And nothing bad happens to him because he's a Potter or it just can't be proven."

Nora was too shocked to say anything. She had almost gotten into a relationship with a guy who dated girls who would provide a puzzle for him to solve and when he finally solved it he would brag about it to everyone and then forget about it afterwards.

"I just wanted to warn you. Sure he's nice and charming now but you seem like his kind of girl. A complete unknown. Something he would dream of figuring out."

"Thanks for the heads up," Nora croaked, close to tears.

"Well I have to go. My dad is having a fit over by the doors, so I guess it's time for me to go," she said hesitantly, as if waiting for some sort of negative reaction from her.

"Bye," Nora said in an emotionless voice and Rebecca gave her a funny look before walking off, leaving Nora alone. How could she have been so stupid? She knew what happened when she told people her secrets. They would all turn around and tell the world and she would be rejected for being a freak or a menace.

"Hey Nora," a very familiar voice said behind her and she froze. Al hadn't seemed to notice her frigidness and he leaned against the table beside her. "Sorry about that back there, I could not get away-." Al suddenly paused, finally noticing her demeanour, "hey, what's wrong?"

It was in that moment that Nora went from shocked to uncontrolled rage.

"Don't you dare ask me that," she hissed

"What?" Al said in bewilderment, pulling his body from its leaning position to stand next to her.

"You heard me," Nora snapped, standing straight up as well and looking him straight in the eyes. "I had a pleasant conversation with your ex Rebecca just a minute ago and let me tell you, she made a few things very clear to me."

Al's eyes widened in shock. "Nora listen, things did not end the way Rebecca thinks they did," he began to explain frantically.

"Do you or do you not go for 'mysterious' girls because you just love the idea of figuring them out before anyone else," Nora practically screamed, venom dripping from her voice, barely registering that Rose and David were off to the side of the two of them, both wearing fearful expressions.

"I-," Al faltered and his shoulders fell, "I do."

Nora, without thinking, lifted one of her hands and slapped Al as hard as she could across his face. "So what am I to you then? Some sort of game?" she shouted as she snapped her hand back to her side, fully aware that people were now staring.

"Nora-," Al said in a pained voice as he held his face in his hand, cringing slightly.

"I can't believe I almost told you everything. I can't even comprehend how I could ever be so naive! But I have sure as hell learned my lesson. Thanks to you Albus Potter, no one will ever get inside my head ever again!"

And with that statement Nora pivoted on her heel and practically ran through the crowd of staring people and out the ballroom doors, the walls around her heart quickly rebuilding themselves as she went.

* * *

A/N- DRAMA!!! I told all of you it would not be smooth sailing for Al/Nora, that would be far too easy. In this chapter we also get a little Scorpius/Rose action and we David acts like the great guy we all know and love. Anyway I will update as soon as possible but in the mean time please read and review. Thanks!


	16. The Start Of Something New

Chapter 16- The Start of Something New

Disclaimer- harry potter is not mine, so please do not sue me.

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* * *

It had been almost 3 weeks since the blowout at the gala between Al and Nora and the events that followed had not been much better.

Rose and her family had quickly gone home after Nora had rushed out only to find that Nora had locked herself in her room and was not coming out. Deciding that it would be best to leave her be until morning, Rose, Hugo and her parents had all gone to bed.

However, instead of finding a depressed teenage girl who may have been crying all night, Rose awoke to find Nora was acting as if nothing had happened the night before. The only way Rose had realized that Nora was not suffering from amnesia was that as soon as she brought up anything to do with Al, she would freeze up like a statue. So, not knowing what to do, Rose and her family basically tried their hardest not to mention Al around Nora for the fear she may throw something in anger.

Rose stared sadly at Al who was stabbing his food mercilessly causing her to remember the train ride back, which had made the situation between the two of them much worse. Al had purposefully sought Nora out to try and explain things to her. Unfortunately it just ended with Nora telling him he was a bastard and to never talk to her again. Ever since then, to avoid anymore confrontations, Andy, Alice, David and Rose would divide their time between both Nora and Al, so as to show that they were not taking sides in their fight or neglecting either of them.

As for where she stood on Al's past history with girls, that was another story. Rose had told Al many times in the past that his need for girls with secrets was going to get him in trouble one day and it was true, he did get bored of the girls once they told him their secrets. However, there was still no proof of him ever telling anyone about their secrets in the first place. With Mya and Kara, Al always swore that he had told no one about their issues and that they must have gotten out some other way, but as for Rebecca, Al had been cleared of all offenses by McGonagall and Monroe but he had never told Rose that he had not said anything about Rebecca's parents to someone else. There was also no way of telling that if Al and Nora would have gotten into a relationship that he would have ever gotten bored of her. For all Rose knew, Al had grown out of that kind of attraction after last year's incident with Rebecca.

One thing was for sure though; Malfoy's comment at the Gala about her not liking conflict had been very accurate. Rose now had to deal with Nora hating Al, Al being insanely depressed, her slightly weird relationship with Darren, over analyzing every word Malfoy had said to her on New Year's Eve and finishing all of her homework on time.

Rose rubbed her head, hoping to massage the headache from her mind. Everything was just so confusing. For the past couple of weeks Rose had been snogging Darren all over the castle and she was enjoying every second of it, but she could not forget any of the words Malfoy had said to her on New Year's, no matter how hard she tried.

Rose also still had Nora's birthday present, still wrapped and buried in her trunk, because Rose knew that the present they had gotten her would probably make her explode in rage. So, even though it had just made her angrier at Al, Rose had told Nora that Al had left her present at the Minister's house on New Year's and no one could find it. Of course, Rose had asked for Al's permission to tell her this, which he had begrudgingly agreed to. She had proceeded to tell him that when Nora finally forgave him, he could give it to her as a gift from him since Alice and Rose had taken her shopping to buy her things and distract her.

Rose sighed heavily as she looked at David, who was wearing a smile on his face. Rose gave him a slightly proud grin. The only good thing to come out of New Year's Eve was that David finally ended up asking Alice out on a date, adding a sprinkle of hope to the dark mood that had settled over everyone in the castle.

"Hey babe," she suddenly heard Darren greet her as he slid into the seat next to her, automatically putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey Darren," she replied, too tired to tell him never to call her that, "what's up?"

"Well," Darren started, "you should know that James is not happy at the moment."

"Why's James not happy?" Al said, speaking for the first time that day.

"Quidditch," Darren said gravely.

"Al!" someone suddenly yelled from the other side of the Great Hall. David, Rose, Darren and Al all turned to see James stomping angrily past the several people in the room to get to where they were sitting.

"What?" Al asked irritably.

"You and Wilson are going to patch things up between the two of you right now," James said angrily, pointing a finger out Al.

Al just glared back. "It's not that easy James."

"Well that's lovely but I don't give a flying leap about how uncomfortable it is going to be to tell a girl your sorry for being a giant ass," James shot back.

"She won't even look at me James," Al said in a pained voice, "how do you expect me to talk to her?"

James sighed and then sat down next to his brother. "Al," he said in a calmer voice, "I feel for you, really. I have pissed off plenty of hot girls in my life but never like you did with – BLOOY HELL!" He suddenly exclaimed when Rose kicked him in the shin and gave him a very dirty look. James quickly got the message when he saw her glaring at him and he turned to see the distressed look on Al's face, causing him to change the subject. "But yes I have pissed off a lot more women then you. And sure it is probably very dangerous for you to go anywhere near Wilson right now but you are going to have to take one for the team on this one."

"What?" Al said in confusion.

"The team Al. Quidditch!" James said in a panicked voice. "Our performance has gone way down over the past couple of weeks and we have a match coming up on February 1st."

"But Nora is playing harder than ever," David said, a puzzled look on his face.

"Sure," James said unhappily, "Wilson is fine. Except for that time she almost killed Al the other day with a quaffle," James said with a grimace and Rose gave Al an alarmed look, causing him to sink lower into his chair. "But over all she's fine. It's Al who's the problem. You're flying around like a zombie mate. Could you please stop moping around and get angry or something?"

"And how will getting angry help him?" Rose said cynically.

"Well he could get mad and start playing as well as Wilson is. For example he could probably get bloody pissed over the fact that Wilson won't hear him out or he could lose it over the fact that as soon as he realized he fancied Wilson, nearly impossible events unfolded basically making her hate him," James explained, not noticing that the depressing expression on Al's face had suddenly changed to an expression of fury.

Rose watched with a heavy heart as he suddenly stood up from his seat and then walked quickly out of the Great Hall, the imaginary grey cloud that had been hanging over his head was now shooting lightning from it.

"Well done James," Rose said sarcastically, "you've somehow managed to make things worse than the way they were before."

"Oh come on!" James cried. "That was the most energy he's shown in weeks. I just did us all a favour ."

Darren rolled his eyes at his best friend. "Maybe you and Dave should go after him Rose. When Al's angry he never seems to think straight," Darren offered wisely.

"Good idea," Rose said with a sigh as she stood up to leave, "Besides Potions starts soon anyway and Al will be there because we need to pick partners today."

"I'm partners with Al right?" Dave said as he stood up from the bench to stand next to her.

"Yes Dave," Rose replied as she gave Darren a quick kiss goodbye, "while Nora may not be mad at you, she sure as hell does not hold men in very high esteem right now. So, yes, you're working with Al."

"Good," David said with a sigh of relief as they walked out of the hall together, "because Nora is really scaring the crap out of me right now."

Rose and David walked into their potions class to see Al sitting alone at one desk, glowering at Nora, who just happened to be sitting in the seat directly in front of him.

Rose sighed as she watched Nora ignore Al like he was nothing more than a fly. David shrugged and took a seat next to Al. Rose walked past Al, noticing the murderous look on his face, and sat next to Nora with a slightly fake smile.

"Hey Nora," Rose greeted as cheerfully as possible.

"Hey," Nora said in a distant voice.

"You okay with being my partner for potions?" Rose asked, wanting to get straight to the point. Nora was not someone to have really long conversations with too often at the moment. Sure, she pretended she was fine most of the time by throwing in sarcastic comments here and there but Rose would swear on her life that she heard her crying a couple of night ago and it was slightly heartbreaking.

Nora perked up slightly and a small smile graced her features. "Actually," she said with a pause, "I was going to work with someone else, but if you have no one to work with I'm sure they wouldn't mind at all."

Rose stared at Nora in bewilderment. "You're working with someone else?"

"That's my plan," Nora said casually. "But I can totally work with you if you have no one else to go with. I know I didn't give you much notice."

"Oh no," Rose said in a rush, "I can just work with Al." Rose quickly noticed the flash of anger that swept across Nora's eyes and she quickly began speaking to get her mind off of her cousin. "Right Dave?" she asked loudly.

"Sure?" David said, slightly baffled. "I can just work with Eddie. He's better at potions anyway. Right Ed?" The Hufflepuff sitting behind Dave nodded with a large smile and suddenly launched into a conversation about quidditch, completely unaware of what was going on in front of him.

"Thanks Rose," Nora said apologetically, "I'm sorry that I had to make you work with someone who's so much less of a good person then you are."

Rose cringed as she stared at Nora's sickly sweet smile and heard Al's knuckles crack loudly behind her as he squeezed him hands tightly into a fist.

Before anything horrible could happen, the Potions room door opened to reveal Stone, who was looking just as full of himself as before. "Everyone quiet down please," he ordered loudly and everyone went silent. "Good," Stone said and turned to face the class, "now as you know, I'm allowing you all to pick your own partners today. But you should all be aware that if I don't think any pair is a good fit I'm separating you and putting you with someone else, which will lead to the splitting of another set of partners. So, unless you want to get on someone's bad side, I suggest you pick your partners wisely."

Everyone just looked at each other and remained silent. This was Stone in a good mood, so it was best not to question him.

"Alright," Stone said, sitting in the seat behind his desk and pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill, "Tennet, how about we start with you? Who are you working with today? Potter? Weasley? It's usually a tossup with the lot of you."

"Uh, I'm actually going to be working with Eddie," David said awkwardly.

"Cahill?" Stone said in a confused voice.

"Yes sir."

"Alright," Stone said, still slightly confused. "Potter? Who are you working with?"

"Rose," Al replied in a very snappy voice and Nora's back straightened slightly.

"Well this is turning out to be less predictable than I thought," Stone said in a genuinely interested tone. "Wilson. Who do you plan on working with?"

"Well I'm kind of just going to ask him right now, if that's okay?" Nora said with a smile.

Stone just nodded at Nora with a roll of his eyes and Nora's smile broadened. Rose watched as she turned slightly in her seat so that her face wasn't directly looking at Al but he could still definitely see the wide grin on her face. "I want to work with Malfoy," she said pleasantly, her smile never once faltering.

Rose's mouth dropped in shock along with everyone else's in the room. Rose looked over at Malfoy who was a few desks over from her, wearing a slightly surprised look on his face.

"Excuse me?" Stone spluttered.

"I would like to work with Scorpius Malfoy," Nora repeated.

Stone looked at Nora as if he thought she was planning some sort of grand plan to blow up the school. "Malfoy, do you want to work with Wilson?" Stone asked Malfoy, still talking in his 'this is a conspiracy' voice.

What happened next was far more shocking then Nora wanting to work with Malfoy. Much to the astonishment of everyone in the room Malfoy nodded his head and coolly replied. "Sure Professor."

Rose stared at Malfoy in wonder. She was dreaming right now. She was absolutely sure of it. In two seconds a herd of Nifflers would run into the room and destroy everything. But it never happened and after Stone asked Malfoy 3 times if he was sure he wanted to work with Wilson, and he kept replying sure in response, he moved on.

"Why are you working with Malfoy?" Rose asked in loud whisper.

"He's the only person other than Dave or you who can resist the urge to drool on me," Nora replied, "It's the perfect match. Besides I kind of want to figure out why he doesn't slobber all over me like most guys. I have a few theories I would love to prove." Nora then gave her a wink, a much needed show of normalcy that Rose had longing for, and got up from her seat. The entire room watched as she walked over to Malfoy's desk and then sit down as if what she was doing wasn't breaking some sort of social code.

Nora shook her head in amazement as Al savagely pulled the chair next to her out for him to sit down.

"What game is she trying to pull," Al muttered angrily.

Rose looked at Al and came to one conclusion. Nora was planning on accomplishing several things by becoming partners with Malfoy. One, cause an uproar among her peers. Two, meddle in people's lives in order to find out why Malfoy can resist her charm and three...

Make Al insanely jealous.

*********

* * *

"Could you pass the lacewings," Scorpius said with a wave of his hand as he stirred the contents of the cauldron. Nora lifted a hand and the ingredients floated into his outstretched hand. Nora was aware that the entire room was staring at her and Scorpius like they were some sort of mad science experiment gone completely wrong, but she had a few missions to complete so she wasn't really paying much attention.

"So," Nora started, "aren't you wondering why I wanted to be partners with you?"

"Aren't you wondering why I agreed to be your partner?" Scorpius shot back, never looking up from what he was doing.

Nora smiled at his comment. "My question first Malfoy."

"No then."

"Why?" Nora said in slight confusion.

"You're in love with Potter and he hurt you. Now you're going to make him jealous by using me," he replied back in a bored voice.

"Very perceptive of you," Nora said with a chuckle, "but that's not the only reason."

"Oh?" Nora grinned. Now he becomes interested.

"Yes oh. But before I divulge my secret, why did you agree to be my partner?"

Scorpius sighed, as if explaining this to her was a huge hassle for him. "Because I thought you were just using me to make Potter jealous and I love to see any Potter or Weasley in an uncomfortable position," he explained.

"Mhmm I know," Nora replied, "you especially love to make Rose feel uncomfortable." Scorpius stopped stirring the potion bubbling in the cauldron, his lip curling in distaste. Nora smirked. "Yes, she did tell me what you said to her about her being... what was it? Oh now I remember. _Stunning_."

Malfoy gave her an aggravated look and went back to turning the potion. "Pass the paste you made out of the beetles," he said a hint of frost to his voice.

"Don't you want to know the other reason why I decided to partner up with you?" Nora said with a sweet smile as she levitated the paste over the cauldron and with a flick of her hand, dropped it in.

"Enlighten me," he said sullenly.

"Haven't you ever wondered why, unlike most guys, you don't drool involuntarily when I start to turn on the charm?" Nora questioned.

"You named the glowing thing," Scorpius said with a snort, "how full of yourself are you?"

Nora glowered at him. "Look whose talking blondie."

Scorpius smirked in her direction and poured a vile of pixie dust into the cauldron. "So why don't I drool all over you?"

"Well, I really have no idea, but I do have theories."

"And?"

"Your love for Rose basically provides a shield for you against my charm," Nora said, hoping for a reaction, which she received.

"Wilson," Scorpius suddenly snarled in the quietest possible voice. "I think it's about time for you to shut it and just help make the potion like you're supposed to."

"You know something Malfoy," Nora replied in a hushed voice, becoming serious. "I don't know how you do it. You're dating a girl you absolutely hate and something tells me you're not so thrilled about your family situation. So, how in the world are you able to act so indifferent towards what's happening to you? You totally love Rose. Why not do something about it?"

"It's not that easy Wilson," Malfoy muttered, "and aren't you being a bit of a hypocrite. I know for a fact that you have far more secrets than I do and a lot more shocking as well."

"You don't know anything about me Malfoy," Nora replied angrily, as she cast a muffliato charm around the two of them so no one could hear their conversation.

"Oh really," Malfoy said, giving her a knowing look. "I know for a fact that the day you got a 'severe migraine' in the Three Broomsticks the 5 second migraine I got was not from too much butterbeer. Unlike most of the people around here Wilson, I'm not an idiot. I see things and you and Potter's little study sessions did not involve you two practicing your charm work."

"Well someone's perceptive," Nora said heatedly. "But I'm not an idiot either Malfoy and I can tell that this indifferent asshole facade you've put up is just so no one will figure out that you actually might be a decent guy, who somehow miraculously became the first Malfoy with a proper set of values."

"And exactly why do you care so much huh Wilson?" Scorpius hissed.

"Because you're like me," Nora admitted suddenly causing Scorpius to jerk back from her slightly in surprise. "You're like me," Nora admitted again unhappily. "We both have major secrets that if were ever revealed, would lead to riots breaking out in the hallways and front page news stories in the Daily Prophet."

The two of them went silent after Nora's confession and went back to work; unaware of the fascinated looks their classmates were giving them as they strained to hear what they were talking about. "So that's why you flipped out on Potter huh? You were afraid that what happened to all of Potter's exes would happen to you. That it was already happening to you."

Nora stared in front of her, not really focusing on anything. "I have major trust issues."

"That just got worse," Scorpius added and Nora looked at him properly for the first time. The guy sitting next to her was not just some depressed teenage boy with family issues and in love with the wrong girl. No, he was also a guy who could deliver no nonsense answers about anything, no matter how much they may hurt afterwards. And he was smart. He had seen things about her without having to get too close to do it. Nora smiled slightly at Scorpius. Under all of the icy looks, sarcastic comments and his indifferent attitude towards life, Scorpius was a guy who could one day give a damn about something and someone and then never let that thing slip away, just as long as someone was there to teach him that it was okay for him to do so.

"You know something Malfoy," Nora said comfortably, "I think this is going to be a start to one very interesting friendship."

"I may have to agree with you there Wilson," Scorpius replied with a ghost of a smile.

**********

* * *

A/N- So we are finally going to be seeing a lot more of Scorpius from now on since Nora and Al's relationship is definitely not going to improve very quickly. Anyway please let me know what you think, so please read and review as always.


	17. Unsportsmanlike Behaviour

Chapter 17- Unsportsmanlike Behaviour

Disclaimer- harry potter and the wizarding world are not mine, they belong to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

"And Wilson scores again, making the score 110-30 for Gryffindor!" Nicholas Harper exclaimed happily into his microphone. "Putting fears to rest that the current personal problems the team is experiencing amongst themselves would ever effect how Gryffindor plays quidditch."

Nora shot the announcer kid a dirty look from her position in the air. She had, had enough of being asked if the situation with Al was affecting her life. Rose had asked her, Alice had asked her and even Monroe had to bring it up in their recent relaxation class. Nora recalled the memory with an angry snort, as she easily dodged a poorly aimed bludger, while swerving through the Hufflepuff team to score yet another goal on their keeper.

_"How have you been since New Year's Nora?" Monroe asked in her calming voice._

_"What do you mean?" Nora said, pretending to not understand what Monroe was talking about._

_"Learning that someone like Albus Potter is not perfect must have been jarring for you."_

_Nora shot her a look of anger. "And you knew how much of an ass he was and failed to tell me."_

_"I am not obliged to give out student's personal information to other students," Monroe answered, tone unwavering.  
"So you just allowed me to look like a complete idiot in front of everyone. Why did no one ever tell me what happened with him and all those girls?" she asked irritably. "Did they think it would be fun to just watch what would happen when I found out? If I ever found out?"_

_"Things are not always what they seem Nora. Have you asked Albus for his side of the story?" _

_Nora just glowered. "He admitted to only going after 'mysterious' girls because he loves to figure them out before anyone else does."_

_"Yes," Monroe replied, "but did you let him explain himself?"_

_"What's to explain? I know that he was only interested in me because I'm one big fat question mark," Nora said venomously. "Now I've learned my lesson and I'm fine. So can we get back to what we were doing before?"_

_"As you wish," Monroe with a slight sigh._

Nora grumbled at the memory. Al had admitted to only liking her for the stuff he couldn't figure out and from what she now knew, she dodged one hell of a bullet. The idea of her secrets splashed out on the floor for the world to see was absolutely terrifying to her.

"Wood intercepts the quaffle from Phelps, narrowly dodging a tackle from Tan," Harper announced loudly, snapping Nora out of her reverie.

"Shit," Nora swore and sped off to Hufflepuff's end of the pitch. Unfortunately she was slightly too late to initiate a play and Greyson had to improvise by passing to Al. Al then swerved past Hufflepuff's two beaters Eddie Cahill and Rob Benton and then scored yet again on the Hufflepuff keeper.

"Nora!" Dave suddenly yelled next to her, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Nora said with a slight snarl as she sped down to the other end of the pitch. Wake up Nora, you promised yourself that Al would not affect you performance in anything, so don't start feeling bad for yourself now.

Nora quickly came up on Rory Phelps and bunted the quaffle out of her arms with ease, taking it protectively in her arms as she sped away. Nora looked behind her to see Phelps blinking in surprise and she gave a triumphant laugh before turning around only to be shocked yet again. For some unknown reason Zachary Tan, another Hufflepuff chaser, had somehow managed to get to the other end of the pitch before her and was barrelling towards her at top speed. Nora eyes darted quickly to her right to see Greyson completely undefended. Nora wound up to throw the quaffle as hard as she could but as she was getting ready to throw it, Tan ran directly into her causing her to throw the quaffle not only hard but in a completely different direction.

"Holy crap! That quaffle is moving. It seems that when Tan tackled Wilson she misjudged where she was aiming and now it's heading for- bloody hell!" Harper exclaimed into the mike.

Nora was too busy cursing as she struggled to right herself on her broom, to give any notice to the screams of surprise that broke out among the crowd. And then she looked up to see something that lifted a bubble of laughter out of her mouth. Nora was staring at the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team as they surrounded Al, who was holding his very bloody and broken nose in his hand; a look of extreme pain painted across his features. Somehow the quaffle she had thrown had managed to smack Al straight in the face and he had never seen it coming.

"It appears that Wilson's badly aimed quaffle has broken Potter's nose in Merlin knows how many ways. The question is did Potter experience a moment of shock causing him to not move out of the way or was that quaffle thrown intentionally?"

"What?" Nora bellowed, the bubble of happiness quickly bursting. Oh yes Einstein. She had managed to aim directly for Al's face while Tan's body was on top of hers and then ensured that Al was unable to move out of the way of the quaffle. Yup, that was exactly what happened. She was really that good.

"Wilson," James yelled from above her. "Did you hit my brother in the face intentionally? Because I told you at the beginning of the game, that while you may have a good reason to be angry at him, my mum doesn't want the next time she sees him to be on an autopsy table."

Nora rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Yes James," Nora replied sarcastically, "I suddenly developed x-ray vision and was able to look through Tan's body so I could fulfill my sudden insatiable urge to kill your brother. That was definitely what happened."

"Wouldn't put it past you," someone said angrily behind her and Nora turned her head to see Al, nose now fixed but his jersey was still stained with blood.

Nora sneered at him. "You have to be joking if you think I would waste my time trying to kill you Al. I have much better things to do with my life."

Al gave her a furious look and was about to open his mouth to say something when James lifted his hand to stop him. "That's enough. Al your fine, so stop being such a whiney git and Nora, for Merlin's sake could you be a little less hostile for the rest of the game?"

Nora snorted angrily and guided her broom up to where Al, James and the rest of the team were hovering, an idea forming in her mind. "Alright James, I have the perfect way for us to score as many points as possible without any interaction between the two of us," Nora replied, staring at Al mischievously.

"How?" James asked warily.

"A challenge that will consist of who can score the most goals by the end of the game between Al and me."

"What about me?" Greyson said in an offended voice.

"I'm getting to you Grey," Nora replied. "The rules of the game are simple. We cannot use each other to score any goals, we can't tackle each other for the quaffle but we can intercept any throws we may make. Also, we can both use Grey to help score goals but any goals he scores with our help will not count towards our total"

"I'll do it," Al declared loudly.

"Oi!" James exclaimed. "No you will not. You two could get the game thrown for bending the rules or unsportsmen like behaviour."

"Where in the rules James does it say we are not allowed to not pass to one of our teammates?" Nora asked smartly and James scowled at her.

"No where I know of," he ground out through clenched teeth.

Nora smiled, happy about besting James. "Then it's settled. Al has already agreed to the terms of the challenge and I of course would like to take part. All we need is an unbiased person to keep score of how many times me or Al scores, just to be sure neither of us cheat."

"Like who?" Lily asked.

"How about Scorpius?" Nora suggested with a smile and everyone looked slightly taken aback except Al.

"No way. I know you've been embracing your inner Slytherin these past few days so that's a no to using Malfoy as our referee. We'll use Rose since she refuses to take anyone's side in anything and she's in Gryffindor just like the both of us," Al shot back and Nora bristled at his Slytherin comment.

"I'll go tell Rose then," Greyson said brightly and flew off before James could even open his mouth to tell him not to.

"Lovely," Nora said gleefully as she watched Greyson explain to a very confused Rose in the stands what was going on. "It's settled then."

"It is not settled Nora," James bellowed. "This is the-." But whatever James was going to say next was cut off by Madam Hooch, the elderly quidditch referee, and her high-pitched whistle signalling the end of their time out.

Nora shot James a bright smile as he spluttered angrily, causing the rest of the team to cringe, and then quickly changed her expression to smug. "May the best player win Potter."

"Thanks Wilson," Al replied back with a smirk before he sped off to his position on the field, followed by all the wary members of the team.

"So after what appears to be very heated words between Nora Wilson and Albus Potter, the Gryffindor's are back in position and ready to play," Nick announced to the rest of school. "Hopefully the earlier incident with the quaffle will not be repeated again."

"You have no idea," Nora said with a chuckle as she sped into the air upon hearing the whistle marking the pickup of the game. Immediately Nora saw that Phelps had taken possession of the quaffle and was speeding towards the Gryffindor goal posts. Nora quickly went into action and urged her broom into a steep dive towards Phelps so that, if she had calculated correctly, she would land right in front of her and probably scare her into loosening her grip on the quaffle.

And just like clockwork, Nora plummeted suddenly into position right in front of Phelps, whose surprised face barely registered in Nora's mind as she sped down to grab the quaffle Phelps had dropped when she had put her hands up to shield herself from possibly running into Nora.

Nora smiled triumphantly as she raced towards the quaffle only to stop suddenly when someone else grabbed it from right in front of her. Nora looked up in surprise to see a smug Al, grinning at her as he sped away with the quaffle in his arms. Nora gaped in astonishment as the entire stadium began to murmur in confusion over what they had just seen. Nora angrily urged her broom forward as she watched Al score a goal on the Hufflepuff keeper.

"Potter scores yet again making the score 130-30 but his methods of scoring are, and I say this for everyone, definitely being questioned right now."

And so it went on. For the next 20 minutes of the quidditch match Nora and Al battled it out on the pitch while the crowd looked on in astonishment. "And Wilson tackles Tan for the quaffle," Nick announced with a slight cringe to his voice. "Bloody hell, he's sure going to feel that in the morning." Nora was far too determined to care about what Harper was saying. She easily dodged all the Hufflepuff teams efforts to steal the ball from her and effortlessly scored on Marco Gomez, the Hufflepuff keeper.

"And that makes the score 240-60 for Gryffindor," Nick announced in what appeared to be a bored voice, but Nora ignore it and smiled. She and Al were currently tied in their little competition with 60 points between the both of them.

"Nora," someone yelled from behind her and she stopped to see who it was. Behind her was David, whose normally cheerful expression had been wiped clean by what appeared to weariness.

"What?"

"Could you stop with this competition thing please?" David said pleadingly, "James is hopping mad over there and everyone in the stadium is wondering what the hell is going on."

"We're winning aren't we?" Nora said with a snort of disbelief.

"Yes but we're not winning properly," David replied, slightly angry. "People have figured out that you and Al are not exactly playing together anymore and you two are ruining the game. Not to mention the Hufflepuff's are about to lose it because every time you're able to score without any other chasers help just shows everyone how bad their team actually is."

"And what's wrong with that?" Nora asked in confusion.

David rolled his eyes in exasperation. Nora's eyes widened, David had never done that to her before and she found that she didn't like it. "Because sometimes it's best to go easy on the other team when you're beating them this badly. Its good sportsmanship and what Al and you are doing right now is just plain selfish." With those words David turned his broom and rocketed off towards an oncoming bludger, which he hit with such incredible force that it shattered his beaters bat in two. Nora cringed as she looked around the pitch to see where the quaffle had gotten too, only to see that everyone in the stadium had gone quiet as they watched Lily and Loraine Baxter, the Hufflepuff seeker, chase after a small shimmer of gold in front of the both of them. Nora watched with rapt attention as Lily slowly edged out in front of Baxter and outstretched her hand, her fingers closing easily around the small golden snitch.

The Gryffindor's then erupted into cheers and applause and Nora stared over at where Al was floating. They had tied. And by the looks of their team, they were not happy with them. It was a bitter sweet victory and she had been stupid enough to be the cause of it.

Nora directed her broom towards the ground and slowly descended to the point where she easily hopped off her broom just above the grass. She had barely been on the ground long enough before James was in front of her, his brother standing behind him.

"Do you understand what you two did here today?" James yelled savagely. "Not only did you make me look like an idiot in front of the entire team but you two literally destroyed this game because you're too stupid to talk to each other and possibly work something out. So, I have a proposition for you. If you two don't smarten the fuck up and you deliberately disobey any of my calls ever again, you're both off the bloody team!"

"What?" Nora cried in astonishment and Al's head shot up at his older brother's statement.

"You heard me. If anything like this ever happens again you're both out of here," James shouted, "I don't care how good the two of you are. Oh and also, apologize to the team, since you made them look like idiots as well." Before Nora could say anything back in response James was already walking away and shouting at people to get out of his way on his way to the change room. Nora looked around her to see the curious and annoyed stares of both her teammates and the people who had been watching in the stands. She had fucked up and she knew it.

"Al," Nora said loudly, catching his attention.

"What?" Al replied in a far away voice, hinting to the fact that he also knew what they had done today had been very dumb.

"On the pitch I'll be civil to you but nowhere else. Got that?" Nora replied.

"Loud and clear," Al replied miserably and then began to slowly trudge away from her towards the Gryffindor change room.

Nora sighed and looked up at the grey sky to see that small snowflakes were beginning to fall slowly towards the ground. She shivered slightly when her body finally recognized how cold it was outside. With another sign of unhappiness Nora was began her walk towards the change room only to be stopped by someone standing in front of her. Nora took a step back to see who it was only to be surprised by the grave look Professor Longbottom was giving her

"Nora I need you to come with me to the headmistress' office," Longbottom said, clearly agitated by something.

"For what?" Nora asked in confusion.

"This is not something that can be explained in the middle of a quidditch pitch Nora, so come with me," Longbottom replied and before Nora could protest he was already walking quickly towards the pitches exit and Nora had no choice but to follow him, her broom still in hand. Nora pushed as quickly as possible through the horde of students making their way back up to the castle, trying to keep up with Longbottom who seemed very determined to get up to the headmistress' office as quickly as possible.

"Professor!" Nora called out. "What's going on? Is this about the quidditch match?"

Longbottom finally slowed down slightly and turned back to look at her. "No, this is not about the quidditch match but I will be talking to you and Al about that very soon."

"Then why do I have to go see McGonagall?" Nora questioned frantically, not really noticing how people were staring at them as they passed by, obviously interested in why Professor Longbottom looked so stressed.

"Not here Nora," Longbottom replied and then began to walk quickly towards the castle once again. Nora groaned aloud and followed quickly behind him.

After literally jogging through Hogwarts many corridors Longbottom finally stopped in front of the griffin that Nora knew was the entrance to McGonagall's office. "Godric's Hollow," Longbottom said quickly and the griffin guarding the portrait hole became animated and moved aside to allow them to pass. Nora followed Longbottom, who practically jogged up the stairs to McGonagall's office and opened the door without even stopping to think about knocking.

"Here she is," Longbottom announced and Nora walked into the room to see it was occupied with several different people. Monroe was standing next to McGonagall's sitting form, both looking sombre. Stone was leaning against one of the bookshelves frowning in her direction as if she had done something wrong and Gale was wringing his hands nervously in the armchair he was currently sitting in. Nora's attention quickly turned to three people she hadn't seen in quite awhile. There were two men standing to attention against the opposite wall Stone was leaning against and Nora recognized them as a pair of auror's that worked for her father. Then her gaze focused on the other man. He stood at a respectable 6 feet and his salt and pepper hair was neat and his grey mustache looked recently groomed. He was wearing very expensive all black dress robes and a proud but cold expression was plastered across his face.

"What are you doing here?" Nora asked venomously.

"Is that anyway to talk to your father, Nora," the man replied back coldly, his golden brown eyes flashing angrily. Nora hated how her father's eyes looked exactly like hers, it was the only characteristic that they shared and it was a very obvious indicator that they were related.

"I wouldn't really call you my father," Nora shot back.

"That is enough," McGonagall ordered loudly as she massaged her head with her hand. "Ms. Wilson, there is news from Canada that you should be made aware of."

"Like what?" Nora asked heatedly. "Did my dad turn my room back home into his personal gym?"

"Be quiet you insignificant little girl. Do you honestly still believe that you know everything?" Nora's father yelled furiously.

"Mr. Wilson," Monroe said in low voice. "If you continue to talk to your daughter this way I will have no choice but to remove you from this room."

Nora watched her father's lip curl in distaste as he looked at Monroe. Nora knew immediately that her father was well aware of Monroe's past and unlike Nora, judged her for it. But then again, Nora expected nothing less from her father.  
"Richard," McGonagall said calmly, "please tell your daughter what has happened to bring you here."

"Yes," her father said, clearing his throat. "I have come here strictly on government business to warn Hogwarts of a possible oncoming threat."

"What threat?" Nora asked irritably.

Nora's father looked at her and his face turned grim. "Darius Morzane has escaped from the Baltain Penitentiary and we believe he is determined to come find you my dear."

* * *

A/N- Cliffhanger! We're finally peeling back the layers of secrecy surrounding Nora while making Nora/Al's relationship even worse and introducing her infamous father. Please read and review and I adore everyone who has already. :)


	18. A Ghost From The Past

Chapter 18- A Ghost From The Past

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not so please do not sue me

* * *

Nora just stared wide-eyed at her father, her entire body frozen in shock. "What?" she asked, her voice a terrified whisper.

Her father seemed uncomfortable keeping eye contact with her and he turned to face McGonagall. "I have come here to make it clear that while it will take some sort of miracle for Morzane to get out of the country, you must be made aware that this young man is not of sound mind."

"How did he escape?" Nora asked in a faraway voice, not caring if she was interrupting McGonagall.

Nora watched as her father hesitated slightly before answering her question. "While the night guard was making his rounds he heard a commotion coming from Morzane's cell. The guard naturally went to go check out whether or not Morzane was alright and he looked into the cell to see Morzane on the ground not moving. Afraid that Morzane had attempted suicide or something else had happened to him, the guard quickly opened the door to the cell and went in, which was when Morzane attacked the guard."

"He was always smart," Nora said with a dry laugh.

"We still aren't exactly sure what happened after Morzane knocked out the night guard but from what we've gathered from our investigation, Morzane quickly grabbed some of the guard's clothes, his shoes, and his wand, which he then used to escape into the night," Nora's father finished.

"Was their no alarm that could sound an escape of any prisoner?" Longbottom asked in bewilderment.

"Yes, but you must not be aware of the location of the Baltain Penitentiary," Nora's father replied dryly. "Baltain is located on a small island that is a part of the territory Nunavut. This island is located in the Arctic Circle, which means it is surrounded by water that if any person, muggle or wizard, were to stay in it for very long they would catch hypothermia very quickly and then die. Therefore the penitentiary does not need many guards."

"Well according to evidence," Longbottom replied angrily. "It's looking like you need a few more of those."

"What I don't understand is why this Morzane kid is such a threat to the school?" Stone asked. "From what you've told us he murdered only one girl who was in the same year as your daughter after experiencing some sort of psychotic break."

"He's a threat to this school because I was his girlfriend," Nora cut in suddenly, voice cold. This news caused someone in the room to gasp slightly and her father to give her a look of contempt but Nora decided to continue on. "I started dating him at the beginning of my fifth year and everything was great. After all what amazingly attractive seventh year dates a fifth year," Nora said in a bitter sweet voice. "But about 4 months into our relationship he started to get possessive and he always wanted to be around me and I didn't like that. So, when I told him he needed to give me space or else, he got mad and he hit me. Of course he apologized right after but I had noticed something not right flash in his eyes right before he struck me. I kept quiet for about a week before a finally told my best friend Emily what had happened and she immediately told me that I needed to break up with him because he could do it again. So, like any girl, I listened to my best friend," Nora replied sadly and Longbottom put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

Nora inhaled deeply and continued. "The next day I broke up with Darius and he didn't take it well. I remember telling him that I would much rather listen to my friends then someone who hits me. I had no idea that what I said would make him... would make him kill Emily," Nora said, voice trailing off as she recalled the night her best friend had died, but Nora knew she had to continue telling her story.

"I have no idea what he did afterwards but Emily was out doing her rounds since she was a prefect. She had also been alone that night because the other prefect who was partnered with her was sick with the flu. From what the auror's told me he ended up following her as she went around the school, and along the way managed to get her to a place where things were pretty isolated so no one would hear her scream and that was where he did it. That was when he stabbed my best friend to death because he believed that she was the person who took me away from him."

There was a brief moment of stunned silence before Nora's father began to speak. "He became obsessed with her," Nora's father said with disgust. "According to the guards on the first night he was in lock up he constantly screamed her name. He would always yell how nothing could keep them apart or that he would never stop loving her and that he killed Emily Hollins because she was in the way of the two of them being together."

"During his trial," one of the silent aurors suddenly said, finally breaking his silence. "He always had a notebook that he would write in and everyone just thought he was taking notes of the trial. But when the jury found him guilty of murder he went berserk and threw the notebook at the jurors. It turned out that the entire notebook was filled with drawings of Ms. Wilson and little notes about how much he loved her and how he would never leave her alone because she needed him. To be honest I have never seen a boy so deranged in my life before I met Darius Morzane. He had his wand on him when he attacked Emily Hollins, yet for some reason he killed her like a muggle would. I was one of the first on the scene and believe me it was very hard to get those images out of my head before I went to bed for the next couple of months."

"How old is he now?" Stone muttered with distaste.

"He turned 18 last June."

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room took in all the new information that had been presented to them and the gruesome fact that Darius had killed a 15 year old girl when he was only 17 years old. "You told us that it was virtually impossible to get off the island that your prison is on. So, why should we worry about this boy still being alive?" Gale suddenly questioned.

"Because he didn't just randomly decide to escape," Nora's father said with a growl. "Morzane, unfortunately, is highly intelligent. Once a month a ship comes in from the main land giving supplies to a small muggle research facility about a mile away from the penitentiary. The muggles never come near the prison because we've made them believe that it's just a giant mountain of ice. So, on the night that Morzane escaped the muggle ship was docked in the bay not far from the prison. When we found out about this we interviewed the men who run the ship and they told us that they did pick up a young man who matched Morzane's description who apparently looked a little worse for wear and then dropped him off at the main land with some money and a pack of supplies."

"So basically this guy planned his escape on when that ship was docked on the island," Longbottom repeated.

"Correct."

"If this young man is so resourceful what exactly is stopping him from getting here?" Monroe asked in a slightly angry voice.

"Believe me when I say I am not letting Morzane out of the country. I have every able bodied auror that works for me and several have come up from the States to make sure that he doesn't get anywhere," Nora's father replied confidently. "This young man is not going to ruin my reputation anytime soon."

"He has a wand remember," Nora added her face expressionless, knowing her father was only here in order to keep his job, not to reassure her. "He was the top of his class. He knows how to use a wand and use it right, and you honestly have no idea what he's planning do you?"

"If you are questioning my ability to keep this murderer in the country Nora, I suggest you stop," her father replied bitterly. "It's because of you that this monster even exists."

"I dearly hope you are not blaming your own daughter for the choices another young man made," Monroe said icily and Nora watched as her father shot her a dirty look.

"I believe we're done here. If you have any more questions about our investigation headmistress feel free to contact me. Malone, Davis let's go." With those words Nora watched as her father strode quickly past her without even so much as looking at her and the auror's followed obediently behind him, staring at her curiously. Nora looked away from their gazes. Not many people had the pleasure of witnessing her and her father interact with each other and Nora found that most of the time people were shockingly surprised at how cold he was to her. But then again not many people knew about the Wilson family's dark secrets.

But her father wasn't something she worried about anymore, especially now that Darius had escaped from prison. Nora had always known that he would get out of prison one day, whether or not by escaping or from good behaviour. He had only been 17 when he killed Emily and had, according to his lawyer, suffered a psychotic break at the time of the murder and that had been enough to get him only 10 years in prison. He had always been good at talking his way out of sticky situations and lying through his teeth, it was his special talent. However, she had always been the only one who could tell when he was lying, which was why he believed that they were soul mates. Now, Nora had no idea what she had found attractive about him a little over a year ago when they had started dating. Maybe she had been taken in by the idea of someone finally loving her for who she was or maybe it had been because he was somewhat similar to her personality but now she could honestly not understand why she would have ever wanted someone like him in her life. Especially since his actions were what led to her being expelled shortly after Emily's murder, but that was another story.

"What do you think Minerva, should we get a couple auror's down here for surveillance?" Longbottom asked tiredly.

"I am not sure," McGonagall replied with a sigh. "I may need more information. Nora, what do you think we should do?"

Nora looked over at McGonagall and without even thinking gave the first answer that came to her mind. "Set up the surveillance. My dad's an idiot if he thinks he's going to keep Darius in the country. He is a muggle born after all, so he knows how to operate in the muggle world, and he isn't wanted there so no one is going to be looking for him. Not to mention he is definitely a danger to the students here. He wants to be with me more then he wants to kill me," Nora replied bitterly.

Longbottom's hand was quickly on her shoulder in a show of comfort. "Nora," he said seriously. "If you need anything, believe me when I say, I will be here if you ever need someone to talk to."

"Likewise," Monroe said with more emotion then what Nora was used to getting from her.

Nora sighed heavily and shrugged Longbottom's hand off her shoulder. "I'll be fine. I've known this was going to happen for awhile now."

"Nora you don't have to go through this alone," Longbottom protested.

"I'm used to being alone professor. I can deal with it," Nora shot back and quickly strode out of the room before anyone could say anything else.

* * *

"What the bloody hell were you thinking Albus Severus Potter?" Rose yelled furiously.

Al cringed as he fidgeted in his seat. Rose knew that there group discussing the events of the quidditch match in the Gryffindor common room was not the best idea but she was far too stressed out by the day's events to care. "Could you not mention my middle name please?" Al asked meekly.

"I don't care what you want! You are a prefect Al, a sixth year, and today you were suddenly 7 years old and having a tantrum during a quidditch match," she cried shrilly.

"I didn't come up with the idea," Al grumbled miserably.

"Yes, but you antagonized Nora into making it," David said in a frustrated voice. "That quaffle that hit you was obviously not intentional. Nora isn't that amazing."

"And exactly what do you have to be angry about? Last I checked Nora started to become interested in you based on who you were as a person. Not because you were a fancy puzzle box," Rose yelled.

"Ugh," Al exclaimed. "No one is listening to me. Sure a lot of the girls I've liked before were based on their secrets but with Nora it's different."

"Then you should tell Nora that, not us," Andy added wisely from beside Rose and Alice nodded her head from her seat next to Al.

"Yes but she won't listen to me!" Al yelled unhappily and several other people in the room looked over at them curiously. Rose watched as Al's shoulders slumped dejectedly and she couldn't help feeling sorry for him. "She won't listen to me and if she would I could explain what happened with all those girls."

"Well then you will have to work at that," Rose replied her voice much less harsh. "Al, I'm your cousin so believe me when I say that I will always give you the benefit of the doubt. However, you are going to get nowhere with Nora if you fight with her."

"Ya mate," Andy said. "If you want her back you have to fight for her because fighting with her will just get your ass kicked."

Al laughed slightly and Rose smiled at her cousin. "Thanks guys," Al said gratefully.

"You're welcome," Rose replied. "Now your most pressing mission is not Nora but apologizing to your teammates. I'll make Nora do it when she shows up."

Al looked about ready to protest the idea when the portrait hole suddenly swung open with a crack.

Rose watched as Nora strode quickly into the room, the expression on her face a mixture of fear and rage. Rose couldn't help but give a shocked gasp when she remembered where she had seen that face before.

The face she was wearing at that moment was the exact same as the one she wore the night she had hadthe dream about the bloke named Darius.

"Nora what's wrong?" Rose called out instinctively but Nora payed no attention to her what so ever and pushed her way through all the people in the common room and ran up the stairs.

Everyone in the room jumped in fright when a savage 'get the hell out!' rang out from upstairs followed by the terrified screeches of the Grenning twins who ran down the stairs and out the portrait hole practically in tears. Everyone jumped again when the sixth year girl's dormitory door slammed so loudly that it shook the entire room.

The entire room remained silent as they listened to Nora throw various things up against the walls in the dormitory upstairs, several of those things shattering on impact.

"Um... Rose?" Alice began her voice slightly fearful.

"I'll go," Rose said wearily. Rose quickly nudged her way through the crowd of murmuring people and walked up the stairs to the girl's dorm. Rose cringed when she heard something smash up against the door. Mustering every ounce of courage in her body Rose knocked loudly on the door.

"What?" Nora screeched hysterically from behind the door.

"Can I come in?" Rose asked cautiously.

"No one's stopping you," Nora replied in a slightly feral tone.

Rose tentatively opened the door to find what would happen to her dorm room if a tornado had gone through it. "Watch your step," Nora said in a detached voice. Rose looked down to see what was left of the 5 ceramic lamps in the room in jagged pieces all over the floor at her feet.

"Thanks," Rose said, as she carefully stepped over the ceramic shards and made her way over to where Nora was sitting on her bed. Rose carefully sat down next to Nora and was about to start talking when she was taken aback by Nora's glistening wet face.

"Were you crying?" Rose asked in shock.

"Is that not allowed?" Nora asked bitterly.

"No of course not," Rose said reassuringly. "Now what happened, because this can't all be about Al?"

"It's nothing."

Rose snorted. "You're lying and being very obvious about it. Now, what happened?"

"It's something I don't really want to talk about."

Rose sighed. "Okay, it's something you don't want to talk about, but that gives you no right to act like a bear who just woke up from hibernation.

A flash of anger crossed Nora's eyes. "You have no idea what I'm going through," she snapped.

"You're right," Rose replied angrily, her frustration with Al mixing with her new found impatience with Nora's attitude. "I don't since you seem to be unable to trust me. I get why you're angry at Al, really I do. But your fight with Al should not mean that you get mad at the rest of us."

"You never told me about anything that happened with him and those girls, so why shouldn't I be angry at the rest of you?"

"Alright. Here are a few things we need to clarify. One, Al does not tell me everything he does with any girl, therefore I have no proof of him ever telling anyone about those girls secrets and two, I did not know that I had to tell you everything about Al when I know very little about what you did back in Canada. You were expelled after all. You definitely did something pretty bad to get thrown out of school."

"That is none of your business," Nora snarled.

Rose stood up from her seat and stared down at Nora. "Then why is it any of your business to know about what did and did not do in the past? But that's not even the funny part. For the past month Al has tried and wanted to tell you his side of the story but you won't even let him come near you."

Nora suddenly stood up as well and Rose took a step back when she noticed a slight glow coming off her body. Not to mention she was few inches taller than her and that was slightly intimidating. "Believe me when I say Rose, my secrets could trump Al's any day of the year," she snarled.

"Then why not tell someone about them? Why not tell me? I'm not about to run around shouting them to all the people in the castle and you know that," Rose said in a slightly pleading voice. "Don't push me away over something completely stupid."

Nora sighed and then flopped back onto her bed and buried her face in her hands. "I just can't talk about it," Nora said miserably.

Rose looked down at the girl in front of her and one word came to mind. She was a wreck. She didn't care what Nora said, she needed Al because he seemed to know a lot more about her than anyone else. He seemed to understand her better too. Rose gave Nora a look of pity before deciding that it was high time she did some real research on Nora. Rose reached out a hand and placed it on Nora's shoulder. "If and when you want to talk, you should always know that I'll drop everything just to listen."

Nora didn't respond and Rose removed her hand from her shoulder and walked out of the room, determined to discover what was going on.

* * *

A/N- Oooo things are heating up. Darius is definitely going to be bad news for everyone. I took a little while to update on this one but I promise to update faster next time. Please read and review. Thanks!


	19. What Are We?

Chapter 19- What are we?

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, so please do not sue me for I have no money to give away.

*************

Nora stared down at the blank piece of parchment in front of her. She was definitely not in the right kind of mood to be writing an essay about love potions and why they were so controversial. She had just figured out that her homicidal ex-boyfriend had escaped from prison and was most likely coming to find her because he was deranged enough to still think she was still in love with him.

"Is there a reason why you haven't written any of your essay in the last 15 minutes or did you just invite me along to stare at," Scorpius drawled and Nora scowled at him.

"Yes, that's exactly it," Nora replied sarcastically. "I just didn't get enough of your depressing personality from our double potions class."  
Scorpius chuckled lightly and then looked at her seriously. "Are you in a fight with Weasley now?"

Nora's face screwed up unpleasantly. "Well you sure don't tiptoe around issues do you? But no, not really."

"Which means yes, you aren't happy with her right now."

Nora gave Scorpius a dirty look. "And you care why?"

"I don't really," Scorpius replied in a bored voice as he scribbled down a few more sentences of his essay. "It's just that it doesn't make any sense for you to be mad at Weasley since she didn't do anything wrong to you."

"You're just saying that because you don't like to see Rose upset," Nora shot back and Scorpius stopped writing with a jerk and froze up slightly.

"Would you keep your voice down," he hissed, "and stop changing the subject. You know I'm right. You don't have any real reason to be mad at Weasley."

"She never told me a thing about Al," Nora exclaimed angrily. "She just let me get involved with a guy who was a complete blabber mouth and I'm a girl with a lot of secrets that were meant to be kept secret."

"She didn't have to tell you anything because she has no idea what your secrets are about," Scorpius shot back with a whisper. "So how is she supposed to know how big they are? For all she knows you could be making a big deal out of something that's actually pretty little."

"My secrets are not little," Nora replied angrily, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Is that why the two of you got into a fight?" Scorpius asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"There have been rumours going around the ministry that some high risk convict escaped from some prison in Canada. Well that's what my dad told me. Apparently he murdered someone who went to your old school but I don't know if you were still going there when he killed this kid."  
Nora eyes darted nervously over to look into Scorpius' calm gaze. Nora threw her quill down onto the table and buried her head in her hands. "Is your father allowed to be telling you these things?"

"Probably not. He never mentioned you though in his letter."

Nora sighed. "He wouldn't. My dad has made sure that no one will ever associate me with Darius."

"Who?"

Nora did a double take when she realized that she had divulged a little too much information about herself to someone she barely knew. "No one," Nora replied quickly. "So what are you doing for Valentine's Day today? Anything special?"

"Tatiana usually sleeps in until 2 on Sunday's and we did all the superficial Valentine's Day things in Hogsmeade last year so we're just staying in and spending some 'quality' time with each other," Scorpius answered with a smug grin and Nora gave him a look of revulsion.

"Well you have fun with that," Nora said with a shiver.

"I usually do," Scorpius said with a chuckle.

Nora gave him a disgusted look. "How can you do it?"

"What... sex? It's pretty straight forward Nora. What the hell were they teaching you in Canada?" Scorpius replied teasingly.

"You know what I mean. Zabini just seems so... sleazy."

"Hey that's my girlfriend you're talking about," Scorpius said in a fake offended voice.

Nora shook her head in disbelief. "See that's what I mean. You don't even care that I just basically called your girlfriend disgusting. How does that make your relationship with her even close to being the real thing? Instead you should be doing your best to win Rose over, so she will realize that she really only likes Darren for his amazing hair."

Scorpius' face darkened slightly. "It's a lot harder for me to break up with Tatiana then you think Nora."

"Then enlighten me on why you are unable to throw her to the curb because I would really love to understand what's going on," Nora replied.

"Why should I tell you anything about my relationship with Tatiana, when you won't even tell me about why this Darius guy has you wound up tighter then a spring?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you about that," Nora exclaimed.

"I'm not either," Scorpius shot back loudly.

Nora grumbled angrily under her breath. "I hate secrets," she said grudgingly.

"Amen to that," Scorpius replied bitterly.

************

Rose could hardly believe it. She was currently sitting in the Three Broomsticks with a very hot guy, who was sort of her boyfriend, on Valentine's Day. If someone had told her that this would be happening to her on Valentine's Day 2023 about 6 months ago she would have laughed and said that, that person was crazy.

Rose and Darren had split away from Al, Andy, David and Alice only a few minutes before. The only time Rose had seen Nora was when she had given her a short bye this morning before she disappeared from the room at a rather early hour and Rose had been far too sleepy and confused to say anything quickly in response. Rose sighed as she recalled her fight with Nora and looked over at David and Alice. She couldn't help but smile at David and Alice as they stared happily into each other's eyes from across their table a few meters away from where Rose was sitting. Andy had dragged Al away with him as soon as they had reached Hogsmeade in the hopes of cheering Al up. Now that Al was over most of his anger towards Nora, he had moved on to being depressed and miserable again.

"Hey babe, what do you want to get?" Darren suddenly asked, bringing Rose out of her hazy thoughts.

Rose scowled at the nickname. "I'll get a butter beer and a raspberry danish. Also, don't call me babe."

Darren grinned at her reaction. "Sure thing Rosie. Be right back," he replied and then stood up and gave her a swift kiss on the lips before departing.

Rose continued to scowl. He always did that. She somehow could not get him to stop calling her 'babe', 'baby' or any other kind of demeaning nickname she could think of. She'd come to the conclusion that he just enjoyed her annoyed reaction afterwards because he'd always end up kissing her in apology. Not that she minded. Only recently had she been able to convince him that she was okay that their relationship didn't go at a snail's pace. Darren had taken the news very well and on several occasions had sped up the pace a little too fast for Rose's liking and she was finding it harder and harder to say no sometimes.

Rose sighed when she noticed the evil looks she was receiving from all the single girls in the pub, which happened to be quite a few, and it was all because Darren was her boyfriend.

Sort of.

Never once had either of them sat down and clarified what their relationship actually was and Rose was horribly confused. Every time anyone mentioned the subject of Darren being her boyfriend she would quickly find a way to change the direction of the conversation.

Everyone seemed to think that they were boyfriend and girlfriend but, for some reason, Rose seemed hesitant to actually ever admit that to anyone.

"Here you are Rosie. One butter beer and one raspberry danish, made fresh right before my eyes," he said with a grin.

"Thanks," Rose replied back with a genuine smile. Darren was a nice guy. Sure, he had slept with loads of girls but it seemed that had stopped as soon as he had taken an interest in her. There weren't even any rumours of him cheating on her, which Rose was quite thankful for. So far he had been a great sort of boyfriend. He was attentive and always was asking her how her day was going or how the Nora and Al situation was proceeding. She had yet to catch him openly flirting with any other girls, which she was thrilled about. Not to mention he was gorgeous. Over all he was the entire package; someone she could mould to become a better person. So why did she feel so uncomfortable asking if they were boyfriend and girlfriend?

"So Rosie," Darren began. "How are things going with Nora?"

Rose sighed. "Not well. Now she's put out with me because I pointed out the obvious to her and told her she was being unreasonable. Apparently whatever happened to her back in Canada scarred her so badly that she could barely trust anyone afterwards, so when she found out about Al's not so spotless past, she obviously felt rather betrayed."

"That's understandable," Darren replied as he took a sip of his butter beer. "But by the looks of things Rose you want to figure out what happened to Nora back in Canada."

"Yes," Rose said in a determined voice. "I sent an owl to Teddy a couple of days ago and he said he would see what he could find out for me. I have had enough of all these secrets."

"But don't you think it may not be such a good idea to go poking around in her life Rose," Darren said with a frown. "If she finds out you're doing this she is not going to be happy."

Rose blinked. Wonderful. Darren had now become her voice of reason. "I know that," Rose said grudgingly.

"Then maybe you should just let her come to you," Darren suggested.

Rose scowled. She knew he was right but her curiosity had won this fight days ago. "At the rate things are going with Al and her, it's doubtful she'll ever come to me since I'm his ruddy cousin. No, I have made up my mind about this. Besides it's not like I'm going to tell anyone about what I found out. I'm not even going to tell you."

David shrugged, knowing he was not going to convince her to change her mind. "If you want to do what you're going to do, I'm not going to stop you."

Rose frowned and took a large bite out of her danish. Now he was being supportive of her questionable actions. Okay, she had had enough of wondering.

"What are we to one another?" Rose blurted out suddenly and Darren's eyebrow's shot up in surprise as he took another sip of his butterbeer.

"Huh?" he said with a gulp.

Rose exhaled sharply and she felt her face beginning to change an unflattering shade of scarlet. "What are we to one another?" She repeated in a quieter voice as she noticed the attentive looks she was receiving from the single girls in the bar.

Darren stared at her in confusion before replying. "What do you mean?"

"Are we actually-," Rose began but paused to collect her thoughts, "Are we actually boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Darren's eyes widened in surprise yet again, before he broke out into loud laughter, which caused several people's heads in the pub to turn in their direction to see what was going on. Rose huffed angrily and she crossed her arms and glared at Darren. "What exactly is so funny?"

"Merlin Rosie," he said with a chuckle. "Do you mind if I say I love you because right now I really do."

Rose's eyes widened at his statement and Darren continued to grin. "You – love me?" Rose croaked.

"Not quite sure yet," Darren answered honestly, "I've never actually dated a girl before."

"Dated?" Rose questioned anxiously. He still hadn't answered her question.

Darren smiled at her and scooted his chair closer to her. "I'm guessing you want an answer to your question."

"That would be nice," Rose said impatiently, not sure exactly what she should be thinking at that moment.

"Yes, I would have to say that we are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Rose just blinked. What was she supposed to feel right now? Wasn't it supposed to be happiness because right now all she felt was nothing?

"You good with that answer Rosie?" Darren asked as he nudged her in the side, probably thinking she was in shock.

Rose turned her head and smiled at Darren. She decided she was sort of happy but that worried her. She shouldn't just be sort of happy. She should be thrilled. "Yes, I'm quite good with that answer."

Darren seemed very pleased by her answer because his hands were suddenly holding her face and his lips quickly captured hers in a very mind-melting kiss. After what seemed like a good couple of minutes of snogging Darren pulled away and gave her a crooked smile. "Let's get out of here. I've decided that we need to buy you a Valentine's Day present."

Rose smiled as Darren helped her out of her seat and got her coat for her. Something was wrong. Why did she feel so not happy enough? Sure, she was happy she had a boyfriend now. Loads of girls had told her it was amazing to have a boyfriend and well she had finally succeeded in getting one. One that was very hard to get for that matter. Darren put his arm around her as they walked out of the Three Broomsticks, squeezing her firmly against him. Rose looked up at him and he smiled warmly down at her. It was then that Rose realized that Darren had never looked at any girl the way he had just looked at her. Rose looked away with a blush but not as big a blush as she was used to getting from Darren when he looked at her. Something suddenly clicked inside Rose's mind and she could easily describe how she was feeling at that moment.

Even though it was Valentine's Day, even though she now had a hot boyfriend, even though she was now officially in a relationship, Rose's most dominant emotion was not elation. She, for some shocking reason, was unsatisfied and she had a sneaking suspicion it was because the guy whose arms were around her shoulders was not 'the guy' for her.

Rose stared ahead, eyes wide in realization.

This was not good.

*************

A/N- Well Rose is in a bit of a pickle isn't she. She's finally realized that what she feels towards is not love in the bf/gf kind of way. Anyway this was a pretty short chapter but read and review as always. Toodles! :)


	20. The Horrible Truth

Chapter 20- The Horrible Truth

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, so there is no need to sue me.

* * *

"Class, today, we will be practicing non-verbal spells on partners of my choice," Monroe announced to her Defence Against the Dark Arts class and Nora grumbled at her misfortune. Monroe still did not seem to understand that she was in no mood to be paired up with certain people but Monroe had explained to her earlier that everyone needed to face their fears eventually.

"Remember, we will only be practicing disarming your partner," Monroe reminded the class, her eyes lingering on Nora. "There will be no curses, hexes or charms used in this class today and if someone feels the need to use one, for whatever idiotic reason, they will immediately be given detention. Am I clear?"

"Yes," the room chorused half-heartedly as they waited with bated breath to see who Monroe had decided to pair them up with.

"Good," Monroe replied as she lifted up a piece of parchment with a list of names from her desk. "Once I have called your name, join you partner somewhere in the room and begin practicing."

Nora was in a horrible mood that day and she glowered at the ceiling above her as Monroe read out the names of who was going to be whose partner.

"Albus Potter and Nora Wilson," Monroe called out and Nora's head snapped forward to gape at her professor. Monroe ignored Nora's shocked expression and continued to read the names off her list, while everyone else in the room were giving each other 'this should be interesting' looks. Nora peered behind her to see Al with a very determined look on her face and she huffed loudly in indignation. Great. He was going to try and 'explain' himself again.

"You mind if I sit down?" Al asked cautiously after making his way over to her table. Nora, who was still fuming on the inside, just grunted angrily in response.

"We're standing up soon anyway so don't bother," Nora snapped.

Al looked ready to say something back but he kept his mouth shut when Nora saw the meaningful look Rose was giving him. Nora ground her teeth together in anger. What was it with this family and not leaving well enough alone?

"Now that everyone is with their partners, let us begin our practice session," Monroe announced. "Everyone stand please."

Everyone in the room stood automatically and Monroe, with one wave of her wand, vanished the tables and chairs in the room leaving an empty space behind with everyone's belongings in heaps on the floor.

People immediately set about their work and the volume in the room quickly went up as partners began to talk amongst each other. "Do you want to go first?" Al asked suddenly as Nora fished her rarely used wand from her bag. She could have probably pretended she was using her wand when she was really using telekinesis but Monroe always had a funny way of distinguishing between the two kinds of magic.

"I really don't care Al," Nora said in a bored voice. "I learned how to do non-verbal spells ages ago."

Nora watched Al roll his eyes and Nora bristled slightly. "Fine, I'll go first," Al declared, lifting his wand to point directly at her. Nora watched him as he concentrated and could not help but notice that he looked exhausted. Nora felt a slight twinge of worry in the back of her mind that wondered why he looked so tired but she ignored it.

A couple of minutes later Al still hadn't tried to disarm her and Nora was becoming impatient. "Any day now Al," Nora said loudly and a few pairs of students near them eyed the two of them warily.

"I'm concentrating," Al replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Nora sighed and with a flick of her wrist Al's wand flew from his hand into her free one.

It took a second for Al to realize what she had just done and he was quick to send her a very angry look. "What the hell!" Al exclaimed loudly.

Nora snorted. "Come on Al. If this had been the real world I could have killed you by now."

Al's hands clenched together at his sides in irritation. "In the real world I wouldn't have used a non-verbal spell if it meant I would die," Al retorted.

Nora sighed in exasperation. "Oh calm down," she replied and she tossed Al's wand back to him, which he caught easily. She was about to say something else but before Nora could register what he was doing, Al waved his wand in a quick motion and Nora's wand flew from her hand.

Nora stared at Al in shock as he tossed her wand up and down; a smug look on his face. He had definitely never done that before.

"Well done Mr. Potter. Five points to Gryffindor," Monroe complimented with a small smile directed in Nora's direction as she walked past them and turned to face the rest of the room. "I will be stepping out for a moment class, so continue practicing and I will be back in a few minutes."

Nora shot Monroe a dirty look at her retreating figure and turned back to stare at Al. "You never fail to surprise me Al," Nora said bitterly while gesturing with her hand for him to give her wand back.

He threw it back to her; the smug look on his face broadening at her comment. "Well did you think I wasn't the least bit interested in how you managed to never have to say a word to perform a spell? I knew it was probably a good idea to watch how you moved your wand and your form when you performed non-verbal magic."

"Right," Nora drawled. "You were studying me. I really shouldn't be surprised, since all I really am to you is your own personal guinea pig."

Al's smug expression quickly vanished and it was replaced with fury. "You do not know the entire story," he whispered savagely.

"You admitted that you only go for 'mysterious' girls to find out there darkest secrets, which is why you decided to get to know me, so why should I give a shit about your entire story!" Nora exclaimed angrily. Everyone in the room quickly forgot that they were supposed to be practicing their magic and they all stopped to witness the newest argument between Nora and Al.

"Ugh! You are so bloody stubborn!" Al bellowed, taking a few steps towards her. "If you would just get over whatever the hell happened to you in Canada and just listened to me, I could tell you that what Rebecca told you wasn't all true!"

Several people began to whisper excitedly to each other at this small revelation and Nora heard a loud groan of disappointment that sounded suspiciously like Rose. Nora whipped her head around frantically as people continued to stare at her; panic beginning to cloud her judgement. Rebecca had been right! He really didn't know how to shut his mouth. Nora slowly turned back to look at Al; lifting her wand gradually to point in the direction of his chest. "That was not a very smart thing to say," Nora said in, her temper finally reaching its boiling point.

"Nora," Al said in a slow voice, putting his hands up, "put down the-." But Nora didn't let him finish.

"_Reducto!"_ she shouted and the spell shot out of her wand and connected directly with the middle of Al's chest before he could even blink. The entire room watched in awe as Al flew backwards, his body crashing into one of the large bookcase's that were on the side of the room Al had had his back to.

Everyone stared wide-eyed as the bookcase that Al had collided with began to tip forward causing a couple books to fall on Al's groaning form. Nora groaned angrily and quickly lifted a hand and focused on Al's body, pushing him away from the bookcase with her telekinesis before it fell with an echoing crash on to the stone floor.

Every person stood in stunned silence before it was broken by the arrival of Monroe.

"What is going on in here," Monroe exclaimed as she surveyed the room, her eyes resting on Nora who was still staring at Al. Monroe's gaze hardened and her eyes flicked to look at Al, who was trying to get to his feet.

"Potter! Wilson! Detention tonight - with me - in this room at 8 o'clock sharp. It's high time the two of you had a mediated conversation before one of you kills the other," Monroe ordered angrily. Everyone still continued to look around at each other wide-eyed. "What are you all still standing around for? Get back to practicing!"

Everyone in the room hurriedly partnered up again and began to practice and Nora finally lowered her wand and looked over to see Monroe staring at Al before sighing.

"Weasley please take your cousin to the hospital wing. I believe he may have a concussion."

Nora watched as Rose swept past her and helped Al off the floor, who was clutching his head with a look of pain on his face.

"Shit," Nora mumbled.

* * *

"You know something Al," Andy began as he shovelled mashed potatoes into his mouth. "You and Nora never fail to entertain me. You, somehow, seem to know exactly what to say to her to lead to your ass flying into a wall."

The group of friends were currently gathered around their area of the Gryffindor table for dinner and were attempting to cheer Al up as much as possible before his detention.

Rose watched her cousin glower at Andy and she sighed heavily. "You're not helping Andy."

"Who said I was trying to?" Andy said with genuine confusion.

David chuckled. "Okay Al. Let's try to look at the present situation as positively as possible. You are most likely going to be getting another chance to have a genuine conversation with Nora tonight because Monroe basically told you that the two of you have to or else. Therefore you have yet another chance to redeem yourself."

"Also it looks like Monroe is rooting for you because she keeps giving you opportunities to talk to Nora," Alice commented with a smile.

"Ya well," Al replied bitterly. "I'm not really looking on the bright side right now guys since I can't fall asleep for 24 hours without running the risk of slipping into a coma and I'm even further away from getting back on Nora's good side."

"Don't give up Al," Rose said encouragingly. "Just don't mention anything about her past and you will be fine."

"That's easier said than done," Al said resentfully.

Rose sighed. "I honestly believe that all these secrets will be cleared up very soon Al, so stop worrying and try and fix your relationship with Nora as much as possible. Much to popular belief, we all really miss her."

Everyone nodded but Al's eyes narrowed speculatively in Rose's direction. "Why do you think her secrets will be cleared up soon?"

Rose spluttered slightly before responding. "I just have a feeling that's all."

Al surveyed her curiously before picking up the bag of ice that Madam Penny had given him and putting it on his head. Rose breathed a sigh of relief. She really needed to remember more often how perceptive Al was to the people around him. He had almost caught on to her knowing certain things about Nora. Or, in her case, _soon_ to be knowing.

Rose looked over at the Slytherin table to see Nora sitting with Scorpius at the very end of the table. They appeared to be talking as if they had been friends for years and the only give away was that all the people at the Slytherin table were staring at her like she had 3 heads and Tatiana looked about ready to hex her. Nora suddenly looked up, as if sensing that Rose was staring, and Rose turned her head quickly.

Why was she so jumpy? Well that morning at breakfast an owl had arrived with a rather large package of information on the girl that was causing the most excitement Hogwarts had seen in quite some time. Rose had yet to have a chance to open the package from Teddy since as soon as she had gotten it she had had to hide it in her room. There was no hiding something like that from her friends when they finally would come down and eat breakfast with her, so she had run up to her room with it as soon as she had received it, making sure Alice, or especially Nora, ever saw her.

Rose was hoping desperately to shed some light on the current situation because she had had enough of depressed Al over a week ago. While she was not going to be telling anyone what she found out, she would however guide certain people in the right direction when it came to talking to Nora, hopefully fixing the horrible mess that was surrounding her at the moment.

"I'm going to go you lot," Al suddenly declared, standing up from his spot on the bench. "I'm really not that into food right now."

Andy stood up as well. "I'll go with you mate and make sure you don't fall asleep. You're no good to us unconscious."

Al glared at his friend and the two of them walked off leaving Rose with David and Alice who were already getting a little too lovey dovey for her liking.

"I'm going to head off to," Rose announced as she quickly stood up. "I have a bit of reading to do for transfiguration tomorrow."

"But you've read the entire transfiguration textbook already Rosie," Alice commented with a look of confusion.

Rose sighed heavily. Why did she have to be the one who had friends who could read her like a book. "Well I want to look it over again," she snapped. "I'll see the two of you later." Alice looked about ready to say something else but Rose made sure to walk as quickly away as possible. She had waited long enough to read what Teddy had sent her and it was time for her to get some answers.

* * *

Nora walked into her Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom at 8 o'clock on the nose to find Al holding a bag of ice to the back of his head and Monroe tapping her foot impatiently on the hard stone floor.

"Right on time Ms. Wilson," Monroe greeted tartly. "Please take a seat next to Mr. Potter." Nora arched an eyebrow of disbelief in Monroe's direction and Monroe's lips pursed angrily. "Today Ms. Wilson," she barked.

Nora pulled out the chair next to Al at the table she was instructed to sit at and moved it so that she was sitting as far away from him as possible.

"Wands please and Ms. Wilson I will know if you are using yours," Monroe said and Nora and Al handed them over to Monroe who pocketed them. "Now would the two of you please outstretch one of your hands," Monroe ordered. "It would be best if one of you gives me your right hand and the other person should give me there left hand."

Both Nora and Al hesitantly put out there hand and Monroe pulled out her wand. "Now this may sting slightly at first. I haven't performed this spell in some time."

Nora's instincts suddenly kicked in and she was about to ask Monroe what she was doing when something rather hot suddenly wrapped around her wrist. She watched wide-eyed as a green rope tied itself securely to her wrist before grabbing Al's wrist with its other end and tying itself around him as well.

"Bloody hell! What is this thing?" Al exclaimed and he jerked his arm towards him, almost pulling Nora out of her chair.

"It's a lovely bit of magic isn't it?" Monroe replied, sounding slightly pleased with herself. "It's often called the reconciliation charm."

"The reconciliation charm?" Nora asked in a slightly frantic voice.

"Yes. It's main purpose is that it will remain attached to however many people it was cast upon, be it two or six, until they make some sort of step forward in patching up their relationship," Monroe explained. "However it does not fix things for the people the charm has been cast upon. It is your job to make sure that the rope comes off or it will remain there for a very long time."

"So... you want us... to come to some sort of agreement," Nora spluttered, definitely not liking the current situation she was in.

"That may be what breaks the spell Ms. Wilson," Monroe answered casually. "Or it could be that you listen to each other, reveal something about yourself, discuss a way to be civil with each other and so on. In truth, this charm affects different people in different ways."

"But," Al replied anxiously. "What if we don't discover how to get this thing off of us tonight?"

"Well then you will be tied together until the end of the school year when I am forced to finally release you," Monroe replied with a glowing smile before walking past the table the two of them were sitting on.

"Where are you going?" Nora asked, trying to turn to look behind her only to become tangled in Al's arm.

"I'm giving you two some time to yourselves," Monroe answered not even bothering to turn around as she swept out the door, which swung shut behind her and locked itself automatically from the outside

Nora was miserable to say the least. Al and her had been sitting in angry silence for the past half hour and the bond around their wrist felt as if it was slowly tightening.

"You do know that Monroe will leave us like this all year right?" Al suddenly said into the echoing silence of the large room.

"I'm aware," Nora grumbled irritably.

"Which means we will actually have to try and get this off ourselves," Al added now looking at her.

Nora just grunted in response and Al sighed next to her. "Could you just say something to help this along? How about we start with why you saved me from being crushed by a giant bookcase?" Al said hopefully.

Nora's head whipped around to look at Al. "I did not save you!" she shouted in offense.

"Yes you did."

"No I did not."

"Okay," Al began, "then what do you call pushing me out of the way of a falling bookcase after throwing me across a room, because if you were trying to injure me further you probably should of just left me lying there."

Nora's huffed angrily. He was right. She had saved him from being flattened by that damn bookcase and she had no idea why she had done it. However, she was stubborn and she was not about to admit that Al was right. "I was assisting you," Nora answered lamely.

"Assisting me?" Al repeated.

"Yes," Nora explained stubbornly, knowing that what she had just said was possibly one of the dumbest things that had ever come out of her mouth. "I knew you would have eventually hauled yourself out of the way of the bookshelf, so I just gave you a little push to get you started."

Al just blinked in disbelief. "I'm still going to go with the idea that you saved me. While I know that I have been a bit of an ass in the past, I know that you know I'm really not a bad guy. I'm flawed, but I'm not a bad guy. In general this all means that you really don't hate me as much as you want everyone to believe." Nora just gave him a dirty look and moved her chair further away from him, causing both of their arms to dangle out beside them. Al knew enough about her to know that she had hit a mark and he sat up slightly, showing that he was becoming more confident.

"Therefore I think you should let me tell you my side of the story," Al offered.

Nora looked at Al and melted under how intense his gaze was. "I can't," she said unhappily.

"What do you mean you can't?" Al asked in confusion

"People I loved betrayed me in Canada," Nora blurted out, "and I can't let that happen again."

"Yes but those people aren't me," Al exclaimed. "Or Rose or any of our other friends. Things are different now."

Nora felt as if two parts of her body were battling with each other. One part of her was saying that she couldn't trust Al ever again and that he was just like Darius, while the other part of her was telling her to take a chance and hear what Al had to say. But she couldn't because she knew that once she took that chance she might for once have the life she always wished she had and she would love it. At least until Al learned what she had done back in Canada and how much of a monster she really was. And once he left her like everyone else in her life, she was pretty sure her already damaged heart would shatter completely."

"I can't hear what you have to say Al," Nora said sadly, turning her head away from his gaze. Nora didn't need to see Al's face to know how disappointed he was. The two of them sat in pained silence for a few minutes before Al began to speak again.

"The reason why you don't want to hear what I have to say has nothing to do with what Rebecca said about me, am I right?" Al said in a voice that sounded a lot older than he really was. Nora didn't say anything and Al continued. "This is all about you being afraid to let people in, for some reason I can't seem to fathom, and you know that there is the possibility that what I have to say is something good. Thus giving you not a single reason to let me in to your life," Al ranted more to himself then to her.

Nora was silent as she listened to Al breath heavily. For some reason she wasn't angry at Al. Maybe it was because what he had said hadn't been an insult but merely the cold-hard truth. She was terrified of the idea of being with Al and he now he knew that. He just didn't know why. Mustering up what little courage she could find, she decided to at least confirm his suspicions. "You're right," Nora replied softly turning her head to look at him.

With those words the glowing green rope undid itself from Al and Nora's wrists and dissolved into green mist.

"It's gone," Nora said in surprise and she looked up at Al to see that he wasn't surprised at all.

"You revealed something important about yourself to me and I realized I can't make you listen to me. I'm going to have to let you come to me when you feel ready to trust me and then I will tell you the truth," Al said sadly and slowly got up from his seat and swept past her and out the suddenly unlocked door, leaving Nora alone in the lonely silence of the empty classroom.

* * *

Rose was sitting alone in the most isolated corner in the entire library just staring at the package of information in front of her. Open it you idiot. It's not going to bite you. Rose, determined to finally learn maybe a little about the mystery surrounding Nora, reached her hand forward and grabbed the package, quickly tearing it open. Rose turned the package upside down and dumped the contents out on the table and grabbed the hand written letter that was on top of a folder that appeared to be filled with newspaper articles and other bits of printed off research.

Rose unfolded the letter and read what Teddy had written down for her to read

_Rosie, _

_Well you sure sent me on one hell of a research mission. Uncovered a lot of information on Nora but I don't know if it is such a good idea for you to read it. Some of this information is pretty confidential and it looks like a lot of information was withheld from the press for unknown reasons. You have to promise me that you will never tell anyone about the stuff I sent you. I wouldn't have sent it to you anyway if I didn't trust you 100%. ___

_ Also there is a lot of recent activity that I honestly think you should know. I have no idea why they haven't made some of this information known to you lot since it could possibly end up affecting all of you. Anyway, you'll read all about it yourself quite soon. Write back to me after you read this. Victoire wants to know what colours you like the best since she needs to pick the colours of her bridesmaid dresses and whether you like lilies or roses better. _

_Talk to you soon, _

_Teddy._

Rose set down Teddy's letter and grabbed the folder of Teddy's research. She opened it and read a sticky note that read 'everything's grouped together based on subject matter and it's in order according to dates, thought you'd like that.' Rose smiled and she lifted the sticky note off of the first article and read the title, her eyes widening as she read it. "_Young Witch Slain by Fellow Student_." Rose quickly scanned the article and found that it was dated February 15, 2022. "That's only a little over a year ago," Rose whispered to herself and continued to read.

_In the early hours of yesterday morning at the Canadian Academy for Young Witches and Wizards, 15 year old Emily Hollins was found brutally stabbed to death on the Academy's grounds by a group of teachers who decided to look for her after she failed to return from her rounds of the school as a prefect._

_Aurors were then called in to investigate and only hours later did they arrest 17 year old Darius Morzane, who also attends the Academy, when his roommates reported to the authorities that Morzane was in their room covered in blood that was not his own._

Rose stared in shock at the article in front of her. This could not be why Nora was expelled. She couldn't have had anything to do with this. Rose read on and the information she noticed the most was how the Canadian auror's, at that time, could not understand what motive he could of had for killing Emily Hollins.

Rose quickly finished the article and pushed it to the side to read the next one. The title on this article read, "Teenage Murderer the Ex-Boyfriend of Defence Minister's Daughter." Rose gasped and began to read the article that was dated the day after the first article.

_The auror department has discovered that Morzane's motives in the killing of 15 year old Emily Hollins had something to do with his recent breakup with Richard Wilson's daughter, Nora Wilson, who is also in the same year as the victim. Sources at the Academy, who have been interviewed, as well as Nora Wilson, claim that Morzane attacked Hollins because she instructed Wilson to leave Morzane because he had hit her on one occasion, which Wilson then listened to._

_Auror Bernard Way, one of the auror's who interviewed Morzane upon his arrest, gives his account of his interview with the 17 year old. "I've never seen a kid so unhinged in my life. He believed that killing Emily Hollins would help get his girlfriend back. He constantly called out Nora Wilson's name and how he would always love her the entire first night he was in custody."_

Rose continued to read several articles, each one providing more and more information on why Nora was who she was. No wonder she was having so much trouble letting people in. By the looks of things, someone she actually loved ended up murdering her good friend and turning out to be a complete psychopath. There were several articles on Darius Morzane's trial and how Nora seemed to attend every single one of them but none of them seemed to mention how she had been expelled. The end of Darius' trial resulted in him being sent to the Canadian version of Azkaban, the Baltain Penitentiary, for 10 years with the chance of parole, a length of time that was far too lenient for the crime he committed in Rose's opinion. However, that short period of time had been given to him because psychiatrists were unable to verify if he was psychologically unstable or not.

Rose shook her head at the magnitude of emotional stress that Nora had been put through last year, especially when it appeared she had no support from family. Rose couldn't help but notice that as time passed in Morzane's trial that any pictures of Nora had her looking worn out, depressed and lacking the glow that was often seen around her.

Rose shifted the articles about Morzane's trial aside to read something that disturbed her greatly. In large bold black print, on what appeared to be the front page of the main Canadian newspaper were the words "Escape From Baltain" and a sticky note from Teddy that had, 'this is what I think you should know,' written on it.

Rose scanned the article frantically for a date stamp and found it, her heart stopping for a second as she read it. January 22, 2023. That was only a month ago! Rose was almost to overwhelmed to continue reading but decided that she had to if Teddy decided that it was important for her to know what was going on.

_Darius Morzane, age 18, has been reported to be on the run after escaping from the Baltain Penitentiary on January 20. Auror's are still baffled on how Morzane escaped Baltain and got off of the island it is located on but Richard Wilson, Head of the Defence Sector of the Ministry advises the Canadian public to be on alert._

_Morzane had been incarcerated at Baltain since late May 23, 2022 for the murder of Emily Hollins in February of the same year. Morzane is believed to be armed and dangerous and Mitchell Crosby, head of the auror department, advised the public earlier today in a press conference to not approach Morzane if they spot him but to contact the Ministry's hotline instead._

Rose just shook her head in disbelief at what she was reading in front of her. She pushed that article aside to read one that was dated to only a week ago.

_With Morzane now on the run for over 3 weeks with no leads to his whereabouts, the public is left wondering why he escaped in the first place and one reason pops into the heads of most. Nora Wilson. Wilson, the daughter of the Minister of Magic's defence minister Richard Wilson, currently is attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United Kingdom after her father had her removed from the Canadian Academy after the explosion that injured several students and the murder of her friend Emily Hollins by the hands of Morzane in February of last year._

_Wilson is believed to be the reason behind Morzane's escape from prison because according to several inmates and guards that currently live in Baltain, Morzane still believes that the two of them are destined for each other and often talked about his beliefs with anyone he could find._

The article continued on but Rose was too plagued by her thoughts to continue reading. Darius Morzane, Nora's psycho ex-boyfriend, had escaped prison to come find her and by the looks of things he was smart enough to evade capture by the Canadian authorities for what appeared to be an entire month and they had no clue where he could be. For all anyone knew he could actually be in the UK right now and looking for Hogwarts completely unhindered because no one here was even trying to look for him.

Rose decided to reread the last article again only to stop when she read the sentence claiming that Nora was removed from the Academy after an explosion. Rose's brow furrowed in confusion. Hadn't Nora always claimed that she had been expelled? Why would she lie about something like that? That was when Rose realized that there was one article left.

Rose lifted the article she was reading off of the only article left and she only had to read the title before a sense of realization began to dawn on her.

_Explosion Rocks the Canadian Academy_

_Yesterday night, only a week after the murder of Emily Hollins, a badly made potion is said to have caused a large explosion in one of the schools study rooms, injuring several students. All are reported to be in stable condition but with all the recent unfortunate events occurring at the school many parents are pulling their children out of the school, including Richard Wilson who reportedly pulled his 16 year old daughter Nora Wilson out due to the fact that she was emotionally stressed by the events that have transpired at the Academy._

Everything seemed to click all at once. Nora's father being more interested in himself than her, Nora saying she was expelled when this article said she had pulled from the Academy, her haggard appearance months after the murder of her friend and the fact that Nora was so skittish about the idea of talking about her past. It all made sense now. Rose knew for a fact that the article she had just read was not only a lie but a very poor representation of the events that happened at the school. It was almost as if someone with a lot of money made sure that the paper printed this article and no others. Someone like Nora's father.

Rose looked at the date on the article. February 22, 2022. Rose sighed, her heart going out to her friend. No wonder she had been in such a horrible mood in class. Today marked the one year anniversary of the explosion at the Canadian Academy and the only reason why Nora would be so upset over it would be because she knew people who had been hurt or she had been the cause of it.

* * *

A/N- Well this chapter sure has shed some light on what happened in Nora's past that has left her so guarded towards other people and we also get some Al/Nora developments as well. I am well aware that it has been quite awhile since I have updated and I'm sorry. Please update and review as usual. Thanks :)


	21. A Winter Sky

Chapter 21- A Winter Sky

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine so please do not sue me.

* * *

"Here you are Rose," Darren announced loudly, as Rose finished her breakfast, causing most of the people in the room to turn and look in her direction. Including James, who proceeded to make kissy faces at her until she gave him the dirtiest look she could muster. Darren continued with his announcement, a large smile on his face. "I know this is kind of late but here is the Valentine's gift that you picked out in Hogsmeade."

Rose took the small jewellery box from Darren's hands and opened it to reveal a pair of 2KT diamond studs, embedded in white gold backings. In other words, they were very expensive. Rose felt a lump of guilt form in her throat. Since she was too much of a coward to break up with Darren, he was now buying her a few hundred dollar pieces of jewellery in order to punish her without him even realizing it.

"Darren you really shouldn't have bought these," Rose responded honestly. "They were bloody expensive."

"I'm aware," Darren replied in a much lower voice, "but you're worth it Rosie." Before Rose could argue that she definitely was not worth it, Darren leaned down and proceeded to kiss her soundly on the lips, earning several wolf whistles from people in the crowd. It took Darren several seconds before he pulled away and Rose was far too confused about her feelings to say anything back. For some reason, Darren took her lack of words as a good sign.

"I have to get to class Rosie," Darren said tenderly as he stood up from his seat. "I hope to see you wearing those the next time I see you." He then reached out a hand and tucked some of her dark red hair behind her ear and quickly kissed her on the forehead before racing off to his class with his friends, who began to make fun of him for his grand display of affection in front of everyone.

Rose stared gloomily down at her toast; her appetite quickly vanishing. She was possibly the worst Gryffindor in the world. The fact that she didn't have the guts to break up with a guy she had only been dating for about 3 months was just sad and what was even sadder was that there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. Rose could even say that her dating him had made him a better person and for all she knew, if she were to break up with him, he may revert back to being a giant slime ball.

"Hey Rosie," Alice said brightly. "Do you want to come back up to the common room and do some studying with me and Dave?" Rose really wasn't in the mood to be hanging out with the cutest, happiest couple in Hogwarts so she decided to decline the offer.

"No thanks Alice," Rose replied sadly. "I'm going to go to the washroom to put these on and then I need to go for a walk. I really need to clear my head."

"What's wrong Rosie?" David asked worriedly.

"Nothing life threatening," Rose reassured standing up from her seat. "I'll talk to you two later."

* * *

Rose stared miserably at her appearance in the bathroom mirror. It wasn't that she looked bad or anything but every time she looked at her appearance all she could see was a nervous wreck with giant diamond earrings.

Not only was she stressing about how to break up with Darren but now she was freaked out over the fact that there was an escaped murderer on the run who was possibly smart enough to, at some point, get into Hogwarts, where he would immediately go after Nora. And was anyone looking for the psycho. Nope.

After she had sent a letter back to Teddy asking him what the auror's at the ministry were doing to look for Darius, Teddy had responded with a letter saying that only two auror's were guarding Hogwarts on weekends and one auror had been given the case file so that he could look at it and judge if it was a good idea to look for Darius.

Rose was very tempted to send her uncle Harry a strongly worded letter on the matter but she knew if she did, she might run the risk of getting Teddy in trouble for even telling her that Darius was on the loose.

Rose turned away from her appearance in the mirror and hopped up to sit on the bathroom counter. While she was thankful for answers on what had happened to Nora last year, Rose was having second thoughts about finding out about all that had happened without Nora's permission. She shuddered at the idea of Nora finding out about her snooping in her past but Rose was pretty sure it was in her genes to go peeking into other people's business. After all, that was why her parents were constantly getting themselves into life and death situations for all 6 years they were in school and the one year they were living on the run.

Rose sighed and looked out the large glass window at the end of the row of stalls. While she knew there was nothing she could do about Darius, she did know that it was definitely her job to break up with Darren. But to be honest she had no idea how to do it and there was really no one she could ask for advice. Al was more depressed and irritable than ever after something intense happened during his detention with Nora, Alice and David were too happy to see anything negatively, Nora only seemed to talk to Malfoy now a days and Andy was about as useful on the subject of breaking up with someone as a 10-year old pickle.

Rose heaved yet another sigh and hopped off the bathroom counter, walked past the row of stalls and went through the door into one of the many ancient stone hallways Hogwarts had to offer. Rose pulled her cloak around her body and wrapped her red and gold scarf snugly around her neck as she made her way down the hall and out onto the grounds. Snow still remained on everything you could possibly set your gaze upon, however, it was now warm enough to be able to go outside without freezing.

Rose breathed in the fresh air greedily. It was odd how silent the world seemed during the winter. Some people found the silence disconcerting but Rose found that she rather enjoyed the peace and quiet. Especially when she needed to do some much needed thinking. Rose turned her eyes towards the sky, as if hoping that some sort of higher being had written her a message of advice in the blanket of grey clouds above her head.

How does anyone tell a guy that while you enjoy all the attention that he may shower on you and the outrageously expensive gifts he gives you, that you are no longer attracted to him enough to feel really anything when he's snogging your face off. Rose huffed loudly in indignation and averted her eyes from the sky to the nearest bench. Trying her best to not get her feet horribly wet, Rose trudged her way over to the bench and with a quick flourish of her wand, cleared the snow away so she could sit down.

Exactly how was she the one who always got herself into situations where the outcome of the events that stemmed from that problem never really led to anything good? Knowing her, she would probably keep her thoughts bottled up until sometime in the Great Hall during dinner Darren would ask her to pass the peas and then she would blurt out for the world to hear that she was breaking up with him. Or he would eventually figure out that her lack of enthusiasm while snogging him was because she was no longer attracted to him and he would become angry and dump her. Then leading to pitying looks from the rest of the school and a lifetime of being known as the girl Darren dated but dumped like every other girl he ever had sex with. Oh Merlin! That could make everyone think he had had sex with her and that he dumped her because he got what he wanted.

"Ugh! Why does life have to be so bloody hard?" Rose exclaimed, staring up at the gloomy grey sky above her.

"I'm pretty sure the hard part only applies to certain people," a voice suddenly responded from behind Rose and she visibly jumped in fright before looking behind her to see Scorpius Malfoy standing only a few feet away from her.

"What do you want?" Rose snapped as she shot up from her seat and turned to face him.

"I'm avoiding Hallows and then I saw you sitting out here by yourself, so I decided to come talk to you," Scorpius replied.

"Why would you be avoiding Hallows?" Rose asked in confusion.

"Well I should be in divination right now but I decided to skive off class since I didn't feel like wasting two hours of my life today."

"Figures," Rose muttered.

Scorpius snorted at her reaction. "Just because you are unable to break a single rule Weasley, doesn't mean the rest of us don't enjoy living."

"I have broken rules before Malfoy," Rose responded in a matter of fact tone.

"Never seen you in detention before Weasley, so there really isn't any proof is there," Scorpius replied with a sneer.

Rose knew he was trying to rile her up, since for some reason, he seemed to enjoy doing it a lot. "Maybe I'm just smart enough to never get caught."

"True," Scorpius replied thoughtfully, "but I doubt it."

Rose huffed loudly in aggravation and sat back down in her seat. "You can go now Malfoy since I'm already sick of you." Scorpius laughed as he walked towards the bench she was sitting on and much to Rose's intense dislike, he sat down in the spot next to her. "I said you could go now, not come sit down beside me," Rose said irritably and Scorpius continued to smile.

"So what's making your life so hard Weasley? White didn't buy you big enough diamond earrings?"

Rose glowered at Scorpius. "There is no way you could help me with my problem Malfoy because you..." Rose trailed off as she began to realize something. Hadn't everyone always said that Malfoy was dating Zabini out of obligation? That meant that he was also dating someone he wasn't really interested in but Malfoy just had the unfortunate problem of dating someone really disgusting.

"Weasley? You okay?"

"You may actually be able to help me a little," Rose replied eyes narrowing in his direction. "Especially since none of my friends or family are really useful for helping me with this problem."

Scorpius seemed slightly taken aback that Rose was willingly asking him for advice but he tried to play it off as much as possible. "So what do you want to ask Weasley?"

Rose smiled slyly. "Have you ever wanted to break up with Zabini?"

"What?" Scorpius asked in astonishment.

"Everyone says that you're just dating her out of obligation, so I'm guessing you've probably thought of breaking it off with her a few times," Rose explained as Scorpius gaped at her.

"I haven't really thought about it that much Weasley," Scorpius spluttered. "Why the hell do you want to know about whether or not I've thought of breaking up with Zabini?"

"You have thought about it though," Rose replied, trying her best to keep Scorpius confused. "You just said so."

"Wha-?" Scorpius replied in confusion.

"So how would you break up with her?" Rose asked quickly, hoping to get a quick answer out of him before he caught onto why she was asking such random questions.

"I don't know. I'd tell her it was over," Scorpius replied uncertainly. "But once again why do you care about how I would break up with Tatiana."

"Just curious," Rose replied innocently.

Scorpius remained confused for only a second longer before that look was shattered by a smile of realization. "Really, you're just curious."

Rose didn't like that look. That was the look of a person who had just figured out exactly what another person was talking about. "Yes I'm just curious."

"Right," Scorpius drawled sarcastically. "Just getting ready for the day you have to toss White to the curb."

"Maybe, maybe not," Rose replied, looking anywhere but at Scorpius.

"You know something Weasley," Scorpius said, "you didn't look very happy today at breakfast when White gave you those two giant diamonds. In fact, you almost looked a little guilty."

"I don't know what you're talking about Malfoy," Rose said as innocently as possible turning to look at him. "I love these earrings and it was a very nice gift from _my_ boyfriend."

Scorpius scowled at Rose's choice of words, something Rose did notice. How odd? Scorpius scowl quickly went away and was replaced with a look of glee. "What girl wouldn't love to be given expensive diamonds earrings. However, you didn't mention that you loved your boyfriend," Scorpius replied with a smirk. Rose's eyes widened and she quickly stood up from her spot on the bench.

"Didn't I?" Rose said, trying to make up for her mistake.

"Nope," Scorpius replied with a large smile and he too stood up next to her. Merlin he was tall.

"Well I best be going then," Rose announced suddenly and began to walk away from Scorpius.

"Hey Weasley," Scorpius called out.

"What is it Malfoy?" Rose called back, not bothering to stop walking and look behind her.

"I wonder what White would do if he found out you were planning on breaking it off with him," Scorpius replied and Rose immediately stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at Scorpius grinning broadly a few feet away from her.

Anger began to well up in the pit of Rose's stomach and she reluctantly made her way back to Scorpius who continued to smile broadly. "You will not tell him anything Malfoy," Rose threatened, now standing right in front of Scorpius and looking directly into his eyes. Unfortunately she had to look up quite a bit to be able to do that, so she didn't look as scary as she would have liked.

"Mhmm," Scorpius murmured. "I wasn't planning on telling him anything. It's highly unlikely that he would listen to me."

"Then why did you just threaten me?" Rose asked in confusion.

"I just wanted to get you back over here," Scorpius admitted casually.

Now Rose was really confused. "Why?" she asked warily.

"Why do you want to break up with White?" Scorpius asked.

Rose snorted. "I'm definitely not answering that."

"You do know that once you dump him people will think he was pressuring you into having sex with him."

Rose gave Scorpius an offended look. "He is not pressuring me to do anything."

"I thought so."

"But you just said-?" Rose said in bewilderment and Scorpius interrupted her mid rant.

"I was just clarifying that what I've been thinking all along is right," Scorpius responded in a bored voice.

"And that is?" Rose asked irritably.

Suddenly Scorpius' eyes seemed to lock Rose in place and she couldn't help but notice how much his eyes resembled the winter sky. In fact Rose was noticing a lot of things. She noticed that while her father always told her that Scorpius' father wore his hair slicked back, Scorpius wore it naturally and there would always be a section of hair that hung down in front of his left eye that he would constantly be seen pushing back with his hand, just for it to fall back into place again. He had shockingly pale skin but not to the point where it made him look sickly but almost angelic when paired with his light blonde hair. Rose didn't want to admit it but Scorpius was definitely very attractive. Scorpius seemed to notice her lack of words and he smirked before moving his head closer to her face. "I always thought that you were never attracted to him," he answered in a serious voice.

Ding! Ding! We have a winner. But Rose was too flustered to deny or confirm Scorpius' suspicions. Rose watched wide-eyed as Scorpius' face moved closer to hers, the expression on his face far more serious then it was only a moment before, and his hands came up to rest on either side of her neck as Scorpius rested his forehead against hers. Rose felt like she was about to have a heart attack her heart was beating so quickly. While Scorpius' eyes were closed as if he were taking a nap, Rose's eyes were wide open as, what felt like, bursts of electricity raced through her body. Why wasn't she pushing him away? Why wasn't she at least pretending like she had a boyfriend? Rose was trying to will her body to move away from Scorpius but she was failing miserably. She couldn't explain it but Rose felt oddly safe standing so close to Scorpius.

Luckily Rose's eyes were still open when she saw Scorpius beginning to move his face even closer to hers. Rose was not about to wait and find out what he was going to do, so she mustered up what little remnants of common sense she still had and finally said a few words. "Scorpius, please, don't. I'm dating Darren."

Scorpius groaned as he was brought back down to Earth along with Rose and he pulled away from her looking depressed and apologetic but he kept his hands in their place around her neck. "Sorry," he muttered in a raspy voice, doing his best to look anywhere but at her face.

"Scorpius I-," Rose began, trying to find the right words and he lifted his hands quickly from around her neck as if he had just been burned.

"I think we should stick with last names only Weasley," Scorpius replied in his normal emotionless tone. "Once again, sorry about that. I don't know what came over me."

Rose wasn't sure why she was so angry that he was apologizing to her but she was. "Right," she replied in a mocking tone. "I have no idea what came over you either. Thanks for all the advice Malfoy," she spat angrily.

Scorpius finally seemed to have composed himself enough to be able to look her in the eyes and all Rose saw was a completely different person. "You're welcome," he replied in a cold voice.

Rose just shook her head as she walked past Scorpius to try and clear her thoughts of the new layer of confusion that had just been added. She had felt something she had never felt before when she had just had a small amount of contact with him. Rose looked behind her to see Malfoy staring up at the sky. Rose looked up as well and shivered, swiftly averting her gaze to look ahead of herself as she quickly walked into the castle. It was eerie how similar his eyes were to a winter sky. A winter sky could be considered mysterious, sad, calming or distressing. Qualities that Scorpius possessed more than any other person Rose had ever met.

* * *

A/N- ScoRose fluffiness!!! You have to love those two together and how conflicted they are. I'm well aware that I am a horrible updater and I will try to be more punctual in the future. Please read and review. Toodles!! :)


	22. Confessions

Chapter 22- Confessions

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine so please do not sue me.

* * *

"Something's wrong with you," Nora stated bluntly to Scorpius, breaking the silence between them at the table they were sitting at in the library. "You've never been overly talkative but for the past couple of weeks you've forgotten how to speak." Scorpius just grunted in response and Nora gave him a dark look. "You did something didn't you?" Nora asked

"It's none of your business Nora," Scorpius snapped.

Nora stared at Scorpius wide-eyed. "I know that tone," Nora whispered excitedly. "This has something to do with Rose! What did you do? It is her birthday today. Did you give her a gift or something?"

"I didn't do anything and that's none of your business," Scorpius hissed under his breath, his eyes darting nervously around the room, since other people sitting near them had begun to stare at them curiously. "Now shut it."

Nora ignored him and continued. "Come to think of it, I've noticed Rose looking at you a lot more these days." Scorpius, once again, responded with a grunt and went back to reading from his textbook. Nora smirked. "Did you kiss her? I bet she slapped you."

"No I didn't kiss her," Scorpius replied angrily. "But I almost did."

Nora's eyes widened. "Wait...what?"

"I said I almost kissed her."

"I got that," Nora replied. "But how could you have almost kissed her. She would have had to be somewhat willing or..." Nora trailed off when she saw the depressed look on Scorpius' face. "She was willing?" Nora questioned in astonishment.

"To let me get close enough and stay there for a little while," Scorpius answered miserably. "And the sad thing is...she actually does smell a little bit like a bouquet of flowers."

Nora just gaped at Scorpius. It was totally true and she had known it all along! Rose liked Scorpius and was just either too stubborn or dumb to realize what was standing right in front of her. "Do you know what this means?" Nora exclaimed excitedly.

"What?" Scorpius asked, clearly not understanding why Nora was so happy.

Nora rolled her eyes in exasperation. "She likes you back you idiot. And I can prove it for you if I just-," Nora stopped herself quickly when she saw the knowing look Scorpius was giving her.

"Read her mind," Scorpius finished in a stony voice. "Was that what you were going to say?"

Nora stared at her friend in shock. How could he know about her telepathy? She had never even hinted about it to him. "How-?" Nora asked hesitantly.

"How do I know about your little 'gift'? Well you did give me a horrible headache that day in Hogsmeade when you flipped out in front of everyone," Scorpius explained.

Nora quickly noticed that several students were still looking at them and decided in order to avert detection that it was time to leave. "We cannot talk about this here," Nora hissed standing up from her seat while grabbing her things from the desk Scorpius and her had been sharing. Nora quickly marched out of the room, Scorpius following behind her. Once the two of them had passed through the large oak doors that led into the library, Nora rounded on Scorpius.

"How much do you know about me?" Nora asked as they walked quickly into the nearest empty classroom.

"I know that you always have a funny way of knowing things before anyone else does," Scorpius replied. "And I think you caused my sudden headache that day in Hogsmeade because you were reading my mind when you had your little meltdown."

"Please," Nora said sarcastically as she quickly locked the classroom door before walking towards Scorpius. "Why don't you speak a little louder so the whole school can learn how much of a freak I am."

"So I'm right?" Scorpius questioned and Nora scowled at the pleased look on his face.

"Yes," Nora said angrily. "And if you tell anyone about my telepathy I will literally make your head explode."

Scorpius' face turned shocked. "Telepathy?"

"Yes. I thought you knew that?" Nora replied in confusion

"I thought you were using legilimency on me and the spell just went wrong," Scorpius confessed. "Not telepathy. I thought that was an old wives tale about how thousands of years ago, before wands were invented; wizards and witches had to use their minds to perform magic. That explains how you can levitate things about with ease. You can use telekinesis as well right?"

"Yes," Nora grumbled as she slumped into the desk nearest her. Scorpius remained silent for a moment before continuing his questioning.

"How is it that you can use telepathy and telekinesis and no one else can?" Scorpius asked inquisitively.

Nora sighed. "I ask myself that question daily Scorp and every time I do I get the same answer. I don't know. Maybe I was meant to be the village freak for the rest of my life but for now I like keeping my little gift under wraps."

Scorpius shot her a hard look and he sat on top of the desk in front of her and rested his feet in the chair behind it. "You're not a freak Nora."

"I'm the only person in the world who can do what I can do. How does that not make me a freak?" Nora exclaimed.

"And exactly how do you know you're the only one on this planet that can use telepathy and telekinesis?"

"Believe me Scorp," Nora replied miserably. "We would know if there was more than one of me. Unexplained events have a funny way of appearing everywhere I go, partially because I'm the cause of them. Therefore, if there was another one of me, we would definitely hear about it."

"Yes but you forget, I haven't heard anything about any unexplained events, especially since you won't tell me anything about yourself. So who's to say other unexplained events wouldn't go unreported," Scorpius continued. Nora knew that he was trying to cheer her up but she knew exactly what she was. She was a freak who was a danger to every person who came too close to her.

"Yes but would all of these people have rich father's who are ashamed of them enough to try and cover up the fact that there is a black sheep in the family," Nora replied savagely.

Scorpius let out a frustrated groan of disbelief. "That's what I don't get about you Nora. If you don't want people to know about your past stop giving clues about it when you talk to people. You're always hinting at the dark things that have happened in your past so much that you're starting to make me think that you want people to talk to about it."

Nora laughed slightly at Scorpius' statement. "You're not the first person to say something like that."

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair and gave Nora a meaningful look. "I'm guessing Potter was the first."

"Bingo," Nora replied, her voice laced with resentment.

"And that's why you refuse to tell me about your past. Because Potter is an idiot who makes stupid mistakes so that must mean all guys can't be trusted."

"I was never supposed to tell anyone about any of this anyway. I can get in a lot of trouble if my father finds out I've been talking about my powers with anyone other than the professors," Nora explained.

"That's rubbish and you know it Nora," Scorpius replied angrily. "You talk about how much of an ass your father is all the time, so don't tell me now that you respect the rules he lays down for you to follow. I can see how upset you are these days. You don't think I notice but I do and it's gotten worse ever since your detention with Potter, which you did not tell me a thing about. So now all I can do is watch you as you stare off into space and sigh sadly all the time and all I can think about is why you're not telling me what's wrong when you're constantly asking me what's wrong with me. To be honest Nora, you may be one of my only real friends right now and in order for us to stay that way you kind of have to give me a little every once and awhile instead of just pushing me away when I ask if I can help you."

Nora stared sadly down at the desk in front of her. "You won't want to come near me once I tell you what happened in my fifth year back in Canada."

"And how do you know that?" Scorpius asked gently. "I think the pureblood son of a death eater who has heard more horror stories about both wars against Voldemort then most people because the 'good guys' constantly like to remind me how much they hate my family for what they did before I was even a thought in my father's mind. Believe me Nora, I can handle whatever you have to dish out and I will keep it quiet in the process."

Nora looked up at Scorpius only to see the most sincere look she had ever been given and before she could stop herself, she was out of her seat and in Scorpius' arms. Scorpius quickly responded by enveloping her in what Nora later believed to be his first meaningful hug for someone who wasn't a part of his family. And then she was spilling her secrets like they were casual talking points.

She told him about Darius killing Emily and how he had escaped from prison with the goal of finding her. She told him about the explosion she had caused only days after her friends murder that got her kicked out of school. She told him about how her father had basically locked her up in their house for a good 6 months before Longbottom and McGonagall had shown up on the Wilson estates doorstep asking her to attend Hogwarts only a couple days before the start of the year, basically saving her from herself. She told him about her fear of getting close to Al because he would not want her after he found out what she had done in the past. And the entire time she was opening up to Scorpius she had been crying and she could not figure out how to stop herself. As soon as she had begun to tell him about her past her mind had opened the floodgate on the room her emotions had been shoved and locked inside of for over a year. They had been suppressed for so long, Nora found herself practically laughing in happiness through her tears just because she had told someone what had happened to her for the first time.

"So is that all," Scorpius asked, trying to laugh off what he had just listened to but Nora knew he was in shock over everything he had heard. "You told me about your murderous ex-boyfriend, you're not so under control powers, your douche bag of a father and how terrified you are to commit to Potter. There can't possibly be more."

Nora took a shaky breath in. "There's one more thing."

"Don't tell me. You secretly have an evil twin who's plotting to take over the world," Scorpius said jokingly.

Nora smiled slightly but her voice began to falter once again. "No. It has to do...with how my mother died."

* * *

"Happy birthday Rosie," Darren said happily and handed Rose a rectangular package wrapped in colourful birthday wrapping paper.

"Darren you just bought me something," Rose replied guiltily. "You didn't need to buy me a birthday present to."

"It's no problem Rose," Darren said nonchalantly and he sat down next to Rose. Darren had insisted that she wake up early on her birthday so he could take her somewhere to open her gift. He had then led her down into an area of the greenhouses where Professor Longbottom was experimenting with growing muggle plants by using magic to help them along. Most of his experiments appeared to be working since Rose had honestly never seen blue lilies before.

Rose stared miserably down at the wrapped package in her hands. It was almost like it was mocking her as she hesitantly unwrapped it to reveal a box that definitely housed an expensive piece of jewellery. She was possibly the worst girlfriend ever. Not only was she too spineless to break up with Darren, she was now imagining what it would be like if Scorpius were giving this jewellery case and how much different her feelings would obviously be. She couldn't seem to get the shockingly passionate feeling she had gotten when Scorpius had only just rested his hands on her neck and his forehead on hers. That feeling was something she had never felt before and now her body was yearning for it. Rose tried to mask how guilty she looked as Darren watched her open the lid to the jewellery box to reveal a simple white gold chain with a large teardrop diamond pendant attached a section of the chain.

"It goes with your earrings," Darren said, sounding pleased with himself as she stared in astonishment at how big the diamond was in front of her. It had to be about 3 karat's. While she knew that Darren was rich in the muggle world this was far too much money for him to be spending on someone who was only with him because she was too afraid to say it was over.

"No," Rose suddenly said before she could stop herself.

"It doesn't go with your earrings?" Darren asked in confusion.

"No, it does – I mean... I can't take this Darren," Rose replied with frustration.

"Sure you can," Darren said. "I bought it for you."

"Well you shouldn't of because... because I'm breaking up with you," Rose exclaimed loudly and she shoved the jewellery box back into Darren's hands as if it had burned her.

"What?" Darren said in surprise.

Rose's eyes widened when she realized what she had just said. "I'm breaking up with you," she repeated hesitantly.

"Oh," Darren replied in a slightly stunned voice.

Now Rose felt bad. "It really has nothing to do with you Darren," Rose reassured.

"You're breaking up with me. Doesn't that mean it has something to do with me?"

"To be honest... no," Rose admitted. "I'm breaking up with you because it would be selfish of me to continue being your girlfriend. You really are a great guy Darren and not a lot of people give you credit for that but I'm actually not attracted to you anymore if that makes any sense."

"I had my suspicions," Darren replied. "You didn't seem as in to our snogging sessions in our spot on fourth floor as you were when we started this thing."

"Yes... well," Rose replied, clearing her throat in embarrassment. "I just stopped liking you that way suddenly and I'm not quite sure why but I really hope we can stay friends after this because like I said, you really are a good guy, and it would suck to lose you in my life. Also, just so you know, if you stay friends with me I can pimp you out to girls free of charge.

Darren chuckled slightly. "I'll get back to you on that," he replied as he stood up, his voice still hinting that he was still rather upset. "You should have this back by the way. It's a gift from me to you on your birthday and I'm not taking it back."

Rose took her present from Darren's outstretched hand and placed it in her lap. "Thanks Darren for not freaking out on me. I really don't know what made me stop liking you because I really did like you."

Darren gave her a knowing look as he bent over and gave her a quick but tender kiss on the mouth. "Don't worry Rosie. While you may not know why you don't like me anymore I have a pretty good idea why. I'll see you around."

Rose watched Darren curiously as he quickly strode away from where she was sitting, leaving Rose alone with her thoughts.

* * *

Rose had been sitting in the greenhouses for a good hour before she had decided to make her way back to Gryffindor tower. After her trip back had been doubled in time due to everyone wishing her a happy birthday and insisting to stop and talk to her, Rose was absolutely ecstatic when she finally made it back to her room and found it empty.

She was about to throw herself onto her bed and bury herself in her blankets when she noticed a long brown box resting on her bed. Rose stared curiously at the box. It couldn't be any of the gifts from her friends and family since those were currently stashed in the guys dorm for her to open later tonight.

Rose set down the necklace from Darren on her bedside table and lifted the lid off the box hesitantly afraid that it was from James and Fred and as soon as she lifted the lid off she would be covered in custard. But much to her surprise she was not covered in custard when she lifted the lid off of the box. In fact she wasn't covered in anything and lying in the box was a single beautiful red rose with a small hand written note gently resting beside it.

Rose carefully lifted the rose from the box and quickly conjured up a small glass vase for her to put it in. Rose couldn't help but marvel at how healthy it looked for something she had just pulled out of a dark old box that had probably been laying there for quite some time. But who had sent it to her? Rose suddenly remembered the card in the bottom of the box and she grabbed it only to find that there was no name on it only a small note written in neat handwriting.

To the girl who will never be like any other... just like this rose.

* * *

A/N- Yes the ending is cheesy but it needed to be. So Rose has finally dumped Darren and Nora has finally told someone about her past. Do not worry many things will be revealed shortly and I am well aware that I am a horrible updater. I will try to work on that. Please read and review as always. Toodles!


	23. Finally

Chapter 23- Finally

Harry Potter is not mine, he belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Rose stared in frustration at the rose on her bedside table as she got ready for the quidditch final later in the day. She had received the rose on her birthday March 20th and it was now April 4th and it still looked exactly the same way it did when she had gotten it over 2 weeks ago.

"Blimey Rosie," Andy said when he had seen the rose still very much alive a couple of days ago. "Some bloke must like you a lot to get you an Everlasting Rose. I hear those things are bloody hard to grow and expensive as hell."

Rose had then looked up the Everlasting Rose in the library to find out that expert herbologists literally had to stagger feeding anti-aging potion to the roses as they grew and then as soon as they slowly bloomed into the rose that was currently sitting on her bedside table they basically drowned the things in anti-aging potion. Apparently they didn't actually live forever but the herbology book she had read told her that some Everlasting Roses could live up to a year, which meant she was going to have a lot of fun explaining where the rose had come from to her dad when she went home in June.

However, the one thing Rose could not figure out was who had given her the rose. None of her friends or family had. She had also asked Darren awkwardly a week ago and he had not looked happy when he had told her that he had not sent it to her. Rose even mustered up her courage and had asked Nora, who she was still not on the best terms with, and the only answer she was given was 'you'll figure it out' along with a very large pleased looking grin, which meant that Nora knew exactly who had sent it to her.

Unfortunately, whoever was leaving her expensive charmed roses was the least of her worries. The school had found out about Rose breaking up with Darren by breakfast the day after her birthday. Now the school was in conspiracy theory mode and everyone now believed she was no longer a virgin and Darren had dumped her because he was done with her, even though she constantly insisted that she had broken up with him. Rose had almost cursed a 3rd year Hufflepuff the other day when she had heard her telling her friend that she was 2 months pregnant. The only thing that could stop the gossip about Rose breaking up with Darren would be if some other couple got together or broke up or if someone died.

Rose decided that she would definitely not enjoy the latter so she had her fingers crossed nearly every minute of every day that Nora and Al would overcome whatever issues were between them and that they would just get together before the latter actually occurred.

Rose pulled on her red and gold jumper knitted by her grandma Molly and stared at herself in the mirror. Oddly enough she had been told, by Andy in particular, that she had somehow miraculously gotten more attractive since she had dumped Darren and gotten her magic flower. While she couldn't see it, especially with her giant woolly jumper on, Rose decided to play up whatever attractiveness she may have and put a little mascara on. After all, a little makeup never hurt anyone.

* * *

Nora was trying to look excited for the quidditch match but she was failing miserably. She had promised Scorpius that she would give him a game that would go down in Hogwarts history and all she could think of right now was Albus Potter. She stared over at the other end of the Gryffindor table where Al was sitting and sighed heavily as her stomach did back flips. She couldn't get what Scorpius had told her about what to do about her situation with Al out of her head. It had been after she had spilled every secret she could possibly think of to Scorpius and he had decided to give her advice on the only thing that he claimed he could. 'You need to talk to Potter Nora,' he had said. 'While you may not know it right now, I know that he isn't as bad as you think. You can't keep judging him on what other people have told you.'

Of course she had tried to defend her position on not wanting to trust him but Scorpius basically told her she was just being overly stubborn now in an attempt to mask her trust issues and Nora knew he was right. Nora didn't know what she was going to do though. How do you apologize to someone after being a stubborn idiot for 3 months? How could she have been so stupid? He had tried to tell her the truth on multiple occasions and she had pushed him away because she was afraid of letting someone in who was actually worthwhile.

Nora looked up from her plate to see Rose walk into the room and at least a dozen set of eyes follow her as she walked to where most of the Gryffindor quidditch team was sitting. One of those pairs of eyes included Scorpius who looked like he was practically drooling. Ever since Rose had dumped Darren, guys had been all over Rose; much to Scorpius' intense dislike. Nora smirked when she remembered when she had first seen the enchanted rose Scorpius had sent Rose on her birthday. Rose still appeared to be clueless about the fact that he had been the one to send it to her and everyone else appeared to be as well. Well almost everyone. Nora had been walking to class with Scorpius when Darren had 'accidently' shoved Scorpius hard enough to knock him on his ass.

While Nora was happy that Rose had finally realized that she never really liked Darren like a boyfriend, there was still the problem of Scorpius being unable to dump Zabini and Rose being completely clueless or afraid of her feelings for Scorpius.

"Nora!" James called from the other end of the table and Nora looked over to see the entire team converged around him. "Stop being so bloody anti-social and let's get going! We have a quidditch final to win."

With those words cheers erupted from all the Gryffindor's in the room and a few Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's as well. Nora took a deep breath in. It was time to forget about Al for a little while. For now he was just her team mate and she would work with him as well as possible in order to win the quidditch cup. Nora kept her head held high as she walked towards her team mates and gave James an appropriate 'I'm ready to kick ass' look, which he seemed very glad to receive.

"Wilson," James said in a serious voice. "If you look like that for the rest of the match, the bloody Slytherin's will be too scared to come near you." James then turned away from her and began his walk out of the great hall, followed by the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team, who were all wearing identical serious expressions.

* * *

"Welcome Hogwarts to the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor quidditch final! Both teams easily defeated both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and now we come to the match that will decide which team is the best of the 2022/2023 season. Refereeing today's match is Professor Cassandra Monroe so both teams beware, Monroe has no favourites in this match," Nick announced loudly into his mike and Nora chuckled slightly. The announcer kid was definitely right. Monroe had even told Nora herself that she was not going to be favouring her at all in this match but Nora wasn't all that worried. She was far too fast to ever get any penalties.

"Captain's shake hands," Monroe called out sternly from where she was standing in the middle of the field, looking flawless as usual. Nora watched as both Scorpius and James walked towards each other and shook each other's hands while giving each other dirty looks. Once they had released each other's hands the two captains mounted their brooms and joined their teams as they waited for the quaffle to be released.

Monroe grabbed the quaffle from the chest it was stored in and bounced it in her hands a few times before speaking. "I want a clean game from all of you because, believe me, I will take you out of the game if you decide to act otherwise." Everyone in the circle surrounding Monroe nodded their heads and gave each other wary looks. Monroe nodded when she saw the looks on everyone's face and then threw the quaffle into the air with ease.

Nora sped forward and grabbed the quaffle before either Scorpius, Zabini or Grant Vatcher, the third Slytherin chaser, could even blink.

"Wilson quickly makes work of the quaffle. Look at her go folks! Watch out Slytherin, Nora Wilson appears to be in fine form today," Nick exclaimed loudly and the Gryffindor section of the stands cheered loudly. Nora gritted her teeth as she neatly dodged a bludger aimed in her direction and then threw the quaffle as hard as she could at the lowest Slytherin goal post.

"She scores! Making the score 10-0 for Gryffindor."

Nora knew there was no point in celebrating at this point as she watched the Slytherin keeper, Ryder Harris; throw the quaffle to Scorpius, who caught it easily. Nora had to admit that Scorpius was definitely an amazing chaser as she sped after him. He was dodging any player or bludger that came anywhere near him with such skill that Nora believed that he could go pro after school if he really wanted to. Unfortunately Scorpius was so highly skilled in avoiding other players that he was even able to avoid her and before Nora could even come to terms with missing him, Scorpius had scored on James.

The next half hour of the game was spent with both Gryffindor and Slytherin going back and forth for the lead in the game, with never more than a 20 point difference between both teams. Nora was getting frustrated. While Scorpius was not as fast as she was, he was a lot better at dodging and she could barely ever seem to get a hold of him. Nora stopped suddenly when she heard a whistle blare and she looked around her to see her team mates converging around the Gryffindor goal posts.

"It seems that James Potter has called a time out in hopes of ending this stalemate. I can honestly say that both Malfoy and Wilson are evenly matched based on skill and one team will have to come up with a different strategy if someone wants to win this match," Nick declared loudly.

Nora sped towards the Gryffindor end knowing quite well that the announcer kid was right. Scorpius and her were too evenly matched and they also knew each other's weaknesses. When the two of them weren't cooped up in the library on cold days studying, they had been outside practicing together.

"Nice of you to join us Nora," James said sarcastically when she finally reached the team huddle. "Now, I've been watching you and Malfoy, Nora, and I've come to one conclusion. You need to start passing more at random times if we are going to win this."

"What do you mean James?" Greyson asked in confusion.

"We need to confuse the Slytherin team," James explained. "They know that Nora is our best chaser and we know that Scorpius is their best chaser. If we have the quaffle, pass to each other as much as possible and if we don't have the quaffle, I want you to all go after Malfoy. I've noticed he panics sometimes when he's feeling overwhelmed. If we keep him panicked, he'll drop the quaffle a lot more."

"That's true," Nora agreed. Nora had to hand it to Longbottom. He had definitely made the right choice in making James captain of the team.

"Also," James began. "Lily... find the damn snitch before we die of old age."

"I'm trying," Lily replied in frustration, "but I can honestly say it's definitely not flying right now. I think it may be stuck somewhere."

"Then look for it," James barked. Nora suddenly heard the whistle marking the end of the timeout behind her and she turned to see the Slytherin team taking their positions at the other end of the pitch. "Alright you lot. Get to work," James said encouragingly and he put his hand into the middle of their huddle. Nora, along with everyone else put one of their hands on James' and then yelled "Gryffindor!" loudly before dispersing.

Nora hovered alongside Al and Greyson. Nora looked over at Al and her stomach lurched unpleasantly. She then cleared her throat trying to rid herself of her uncontrollable feelings for the rest of the game. "Alright you two," Nora said in a serious voice. "Get ready for the quaffle to be coming at you a lot. As soon as I grab it I'll be passing it to one of you, so get open as soon as you can. After that, Scorpius will be on top of you like a bear is drawn to honey, so if you have to, pass it back to me so I can try and score."

"Sounds good Nora," Al replied, looking her directly in the eyes and Nora couldn't help but stare back.

"Okay you two," Greyson said, clearing his throat in embarrassment. "You can have this staring match after the game is finished. Right now, we need to win."

Al tore his eyes away from hers and nodded his head at Greyson before flying off to his position and Nora turned her head and watched as Monroe threw the quaffle into the air. Nora quickly sped forward and grabbed it, speeding off in the direction of the Slytherin goal posts. She watched with a smile as both Zabini and Scorpius approached her from behind in her peripheral vision and Vatcher had followed Greyson away from where she was flying. Not today my friends. Nora looked quickly up to see Al wide open and brought her broom to a quick stop and threw the quaffle as high as she could ahead of herself. Nora watched with satisfaction as Al swooped down quickly to grab the quaffle and then speed towards the goalposts, where he easily scored on a slightly astonished looking Harris.

"Potter scores a fantastic goal, making the score 130-120 for Gryffindor," Nick announced happily. "It appears that the Gryffindor's now have a new strategy. Let's just hope it works out for them down the road."

The strategy did work. On the offensive Al, Nora and Greyson were passing to each other in the most random ways imaginable. There was even a point where Al had literally threw the quaffle behind him when both Vatcher and Zabini were closing in on him and Nora had caught it effortlessly, only to throw it forward to Greyson who was waiting by the Slytherin goal posts leading to Gryffindor earning another ten points. On defence Al, Nora and Greyson literally swarmed Scorpius enough for him to be forced to pass the quaffle, only for it to be easily intercepted by either one of them. All of these strategies combined helped to make the score 210-160 for Gryffindor.

Nora couldn't help but smile happily at their progress as Al quickly flew past her with the quaffle in hand. She had been able to get over her animosity for Al because she knew that if she hadn't they would never have been able to pull ahead of Slytherin.

"Now that Gryffindor is showing signs of pulling ahead," Nick announced happily, "all hopes for either team winning comes down to either Lily Potter or Sebastian Kent catching the snitch. However, it seems that neither one of them is having any luck finding it, since neither of them have made any attempt at all of chasing it this entire game."

Nora scowled as she watched Lily soar above the stadium searching for the snitch. Nora had to agree with what Lily had said during the timeout. It had to be stuck somewhere. Nora turned her attention back to the game and much to her dismay she saw that Scorpius had gotten the quaffle away from Al. Nora cursed under her breath as she sped after her friend, knowing full well she was going to be unable to catch him as she watched him score yet another goal, bringing the score to 210-170.

"Scorp!" Nora called out and her friend turned to look at her. Nora knew that this game was going to go back and forth for ages if the snitch wasn't found and she gestured for her friend to come talk to her.

Scorpius speedily flew towards her and halted neatly beside her in the air. "What do you need Nora?" Scorpius asked with a broad smile.

Nora rolled her eyes. "Would you quit being a smug bastard for a moment please, we have a problem. The snitch is obviously stuck somewhere and we need to make sure it becomes unstuck or we're going to be playing until the sun goes down or someone forfeits, which we both know will never happen."

"How the hell are we going to get it unstuck?" Scorpius asked. "We can't touch the thing."

"Just follow my lead," Nora insisted and she sped off towards the stands.

"While I'm not quite sure what Scorpius Malfoy and Nora Wilson were talking about in the middle of the game, but it seems that they are on some sort of mission since they appear to be flying away from the game towards the stands," Nick said into his microphone as both Nora and Scorpius hovered over everyone watching the game.

Nora sifted through all of the people and quickly found Rose, Andy and Alice and then flew towards them.

"What's wrong Nora?" Andy asked in confusion.

"I need you to look for the snitch," Nora said adamantly. "I think Lily can't find it because it's stuck somewhere in the stands."

"Alright," Rose replied. "Do you want us to pass the word along?"

Nora watched as Scorpius flew off to another section of the stands to tell more people to look for the snitch. "Ya," Nora answered. "That would be a really good idea."

Rose nodded her head and in her most motherly sounding voice she began to shout at everyone in her section of the stands. "Quiet!" she screeched loudly and everyone who had been cheering in the stands visibly jumped and went quiet. "Lovely," Rose said with a smile. "Alright you lot. The snitch is missing and if we want someone to win this game tonight we're going to have to help Lily and whoever that Slytherin bloke is find the bloody thing."

Nora watched with satisfaction as all the people in the stands stopped watching the game and started looking under their feet and she flew off to rejoin the game.

"Well it appears that both Nora Wilson and Scorpius Malfoy have asked the people in the stands to look for the snitch since it appears to be missing in action at the moment," Nick broadcasted to the entire stadium and then everyone began to look around them for the tiny little gold ball.

Nora was about to intercept a pass between Zabini and Vatcher, only to be stopped suddenly when she heard something she thought she would never hear come over the loud speaker.

"Bloody hell," she heard Nick's muffled voice exclaim. Everyone in the entire stadium looked up at the professor's area of the stands to see Nick pointing at Professor Stone who looked highly irritated.

"Professor," Nick said in a frantic tone. "Get up now! I think you're sitting on the snitch."

Nora watched, her mouth wide open in wonder as both Lily and Kent suddenly snapped into action and then raced towards where the professor's were sitting. Professor Stone, realizing the predicament he was in, stood up as if he had been burned and a small flicker of gold suddenly popped up from where he had been sitting. Lily and Kent both urged their brooms into spectacular dives as the snitch raced towards the ground. Everyone held their breath as both Kent and Lily continued to descend towards the ground at break neck speeds, only to watch in amazement as Kent suddenly pulled up at the last second and Lily literally dived off her broom onto the ground right below her, sliding a few feet before grinding to a halt.

Everyone stared wide-eyed as Lily lifted herself slowly off the ground on to her hands and knees, clearly in quite a bit of pain.

"Bloody hell," Nick exclaimed. "Is she alright? Did she catch the snitch?"

As if understanding that everyone needed to know the answer to both questions. Lily lifted one of her arms, not only to show that she was alright but to show that grasped tightly in her right hand was the snitch.

Nora literally screamed in happiness when she saw the snitch in Lily's hand, as did all the other Gryffindor's as they sped towards Lily to congratulate her and make sure that she didn't have a broken rib.

"She's caught the snitch! She's caught the snitch! Lily Potter has caught the snitch making the final score 360-170 for Gryffindor!" Nick cheered loudly into his microphone. "Gryffindor has won the quidditch cup for the fifth year in a row!"

Nora literally jumped off her broom when she had gotten close enough to where Lily was attempting to get off the ground but failing since the entire team was swarming her as they celebrated their win.

"We did it! We bloody well did it!" Greyson yelled happily as he helped a grateful Lily off the ground.

Nora looked over at James who looked about ready to cry he was so happy. Before Nora could prepare herself the entire stadium had emptied itself onto the pitch to come and celebrate with them. Nora laughed loudly when she saw Alice launch herself at a very surprised looking David and then kiss him soundly on the lips. Not that far away from the two of them she saw Rose and Andy jumping up and down like idiots while holding each other; both of them yelling 'we won, we won' as loud as they possibly could. Nora looked away with a large smile only to see Al staring at her with an intense look on his face.

It was as if everyone else currently swarming around her had suddenly vanished and the only person she could see was Al. That was when she realized why she had gotten over animosity towards Al so easily in today's game. She no longer cared if he had messed up in the past because she knew personally that he was different now and she could hear what he had to say for himself later. Right now, all she wanted to do was something she should have done months ago.

Nora snapped out of her reverie and began pushing her way through the crowd towards Al. Al seemed to realize that she was making her way through the crowd towards him and he also began to push his way past people until the two of them were directly in front of each other panting heavily with matching expressions of joy on their faces.

"I'm sorry," Nora suddenly blurted out. "I've been acting like a psycho these past couple of months and making your life a living hell when all I've really wanted to do was one thing."

"And what's that?" Al asked with a broad smile. Merlin she loved that smile.

Not even bothering to answer his question with words Nora grabbed a hold of Al's face, her lips connecting with his for the most mind-blowing kiss she had ever experienced in her entire life. Nora was holding on to Al as if she were ever to let him go, he would disappear. Al was smiling like a fool and had proceeded to lift her up off the ground and twirl her around, their lips never separating. It was in that moment that Nora knew that she would not be letting go of this boy anytime soon.

"Look everyone!" Andy yelled, but to Nora he sounded as if he were a thousand miles away. "Al and Nora are finally together!"

Everyone looked around them frantically only to start cheering ecstatically when they saw Al and Nora locked together at the lips. Nora and Al broke a part only to start laughing as they were both lifted into the air by the entire Gryffindor population and James handed them the quidditch cup as they were being marched back to the castle, which they hoisted high in the air in celebration while beaming at each other.

* * *

Lagging behind the group were Rose and Scorpius who were both smiling broadly as they watched their friends being marched up to the castle before they realized that they were both being left behind.

They both looked at each other awkwardly before Rose plucked up the courage to say something. "Good game Malfoy," Rose complimented, glancing at him quickly and missing the small smile that graced his lips.

"Thanks Weasley," Scorpius replied and they went silent again. Rose was very aware of the tension between them and she silently prayed that he would say something to break it. Fortunately for her, the higher powers appeared to be on her side that day.

"It's about bloody time, huh?" Scorpius suddenly said with a laugh.

Rose chuckled lightly and shot him a smile. "You have no idea."

* * *

A/N- All together now. YAAAAYYYYY! Yes they are finally together but the drama will continue. I promise. Darius is still lurking in the background somewhere. Very speedy update this time and I promise to get the rest of the chapters up just as quick since I have officially finished this story. There will be 30 chapters, so there are only 6 left to post. Once again, please read and review and I adore everyone who does. Toodles!


	24. The Truth Shall Set You Free

Chapter 24- The Truth Shall Set You Free

Disclaimer- Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, no matter how much I wish he was mine.

* * *

"I love you Nora," Andy said sloppily as he sat down in a spot next to Nora on one of the red couches in the Gryffindor common, reeking of firewhiskey and trying to keep his cup from spilling its contents on himself.

"Do you now?" Nora asked in amusement.

"Yup," Andy replied with a broad smile as he took a sip of whatever he was drinking. "You may have been acting like a stubborn git for the past couple of months but I still l love you anyway."

"That's Andy's way of saying he missed you Nora," someone suddenly said with a chuckle from behind her and she turned to watch David sit down in front of her followed by Alice, his hand firmly grasping hers.

Nora turned her head to her other side to see Rose settle in to the seat next to her, but not before giving Andy a disapproving look as he belched loudly. "But he is right about the stubborn git part," Rose replied with a stony look in Nora's direction.

Nora winced slightly at Rose's tone. "I guess I deserved that," Nora said grudgingly.

"Yes you did," Alice said sternly but her expression quickly softened. "But you're very lucky that we're the kind of friends that forgive very easily."

Nora smiled at Alice. "I'm so sorry you guys. I've been acting like an idiot to all of you for the past couple of months because I was too stubborn to realize that I needed to let people into my life if I was ever going to be happy."

"Apology accepted," Andy replied, slurring his words.

"No argument there," David said with a loud laugh and he reached over and clapped Andy on the shoulder, practically knocking him off of his seat on the couch.

"So now that you've apologized to us, I think you should go have a nice long chat with Al," Rose said with a sweet smile. "Merlin knows how badly you two need to have one."

"Ha ha," Nora said dryly. "We're going to talk once the party's died down a bit or everyone's passed out, which in Andy's case might not be too long from now."

"Don't bet on it," David said lowering his voice so Andy, who was now talking to a very tall blonde Slytherin seventh year, wouldn't hear him. "Andy can somehow manage to stop acting drunk as soon as he's trying to get in other girls pants."

"Therefore," Alice piped up cheerfully. "You should go look for Al and talk to him immediately. I can't wait for you two to finally be together. Rose always refused to go on double dates with me and David when she was with Darren and I've always wanted to."

"I wonder why?" Nora said with a fake smile before shooting a grinning Rose a very nasty look.

"Never mind that Alice," David said, his face slightly pink as he cleared his throat. "But she is right Nora. Don't put off the inevitable. It's time for you to talk to Al."

"Oh fine. But I have no idea where he is right now," Nora replied.

"Well that's an easy fix," Rose said. "He's right behind you."

Nora turned quickly to see Al with Greyson, not that far from where they were sitting, who was re-enacting a goal he scored in today's match for a bunch of giggling 4th year girls. Al looked highly amused watching his teammate and Nora couldn't help but smile at how happy Al looked after seeing him look so miserable for the past couple of months.

Unfortunately Nora had no idea if that would quickly change as soon as she told Al about what she had done or when he explained what had happened with the few girls he had been involved with over the years.

"Nora," Rose said in a warning voice, obviously seeing her hesitant expression.

"Alright, alright. I'm going," Nora said in annoyance and she took a deep breath in to calm her nerves before standing up from her seat and making her way over to where Al was standing. The group of giggling girls quickly shut up when they noticed Nora standing so close to them and they all stared at her wide-eyed as if they were afraid she may attack them.

"Hey Grey," Nora said as cheerfully as possible. "Nice to see you're milking our win for all it's worth."

"You know it Wilson," Greyson said with a smirk before noticing she had not come over to talk to him about his fans. "Alright ladies," Greyson suddenly said, giving Nora a meaningful look. "Let's go get something else to drink."

Nora watched with a smile as Greyson walked away with the group of giggling girls who followed him like a herd of sheep. "I love that kid," Nora said with a laugh before turning to look at Al.

"I hope not more than me," Al said seriously.

Nora felt I very light blush grace her cheeks as she cleared her throat in embarrassment. "How about we get out of here?" she offered. "We need to find somewhere a little bit more isolated so we can talk."

"Alright," Al said unsmiling and he gestured towards the portrait hole. "Lead the way."

* * *

After walking alone in the silence of the deserted hallways for a few minutes, Nora and Al came across a deserted classroom that they quickly darted into and Nora locked the door behind them.

"Is that necessary?" Al asked apprehensively.

"Believe me," Nora assured him. "It's necessary."

Nora watched from where she was standing at the door as Al settled himself on the teacher's desk at the front of the room where he proceeded to stare at her.

"I understand that this is a big deal for you," Al said in an understanding voice. "And how hard it has to be for you to be trusting me so... I guess I'll go first. But I think it would be a lot easier if you kind of... sat near me for this."

"Oh sorry," Nora said, slightly flustered and she quickly made her way to the front of the room and sat herself beside him on the teacher's desk.

Al nodded as he watched her take her seat next to him, his face a mask of uncertainty. "What I'm about to tell you will possibly make you angry and I have accepted that it might so... I guess I'll start at the beginning."

Nora gave him a small encouraging smile and she watched Al take a deep breath in before beginning to tell her his side of what had happened with all of his previous girlfriends.

"Alright so I dated Mya in my third year. To be honest I wouldn't really call it dating since she was my first girlfriend so I had no idea what the hell I was doing," Al explained honestly and Nora let out a small laugh. However, Al seemed encouraged by her laughter and he continued on with his story more confidently. "So, on our one month anniversary, which was a huge deal," Al said, laughing to himself. "Mya suddenly came out and told me that we shouldn't have secrets in our relationship and then she told me about how her dad had killed that muggle family and how she hadn't seen or heard from him since they shipped him off to Azkaban," Al explained. "After that she swore me to secrecy and I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone and then she told me that she had only ever told one other person at Hogwarts what her dad had done because it was so hard for her to actually admit it, especially since we're living in a time where people who kill muggle's are seen as sick basterds. Then we dated for another month or so and then we just broke up because we were bored of each other or something," Al said rapidly and his eyes quickly darted in Nora's direction and she gave him a reassuring look. Al cleared his throat and began again. "So imagine my surprise when a few days later she confronted me in the hallways – crying – about how I had betrayed her trust and now half the school knew about her dad. I denied saying anything, because I honestly hadn't said a thing," Al said more as a reassurance to Nora and Nora gestured for him to continue. "I then asked if the other person she had told hadn't told someone else and she got this kind of dumb struck look before walking off and then she never bothered me after that, which makes me think that the other person she told spilled the beans on her dad to someone else. But since she only yelled at me in front of loads of people, everyone thinks that I was the one who ran my mouth."

"Okay," Nora said slightly breathless.

"Do you believe me so far?" Al questioned.

"Yes," Nora replied honestly. "Yes I do. Keep going."

"Okay," Al said, giving her an appreciative look. "So Mya ended up transferring out of school and eventually the whole thing blew over and the rest of my third year was relatively uneventful, which leads way to my fourth year," Al said with a slightly displeased look on his face.

"Something tells me, by that look on your face, that you were a little shit in your fourth year," Nora said with a smile and she edged closer to where Al was sitting.

"A little," Al replied and he continued on. "In the middle of my fourth year I managed to gather up the courage to ask out Kara Welsh, who was apparently the best looking girl in our year at the time. She said yes, of course," Al said, shooting Nora a wide grin before continuing on, "and for 2 months I thought I was the greatest thing in the world because I had become Kara Welsh's boyfriend. But then... we started talking and I realized we had nothing in common. She was honestly really... odd. She read all these books about satanic cults in the muggle world and I was pretty sure she was obsessed about them, so I ended up breaking up with her because I thought she was weird."

Nora laughed loudly at Al's explanation for why he broke up with Kara. "She was too weird. Oh Merlin Al, I can totally believe that you were a little shit when you were 14."

"Ya ya," Al said with a look of displeasure. "But guess how I felt when a week or so later everyone was saying that she was bulimic and I felt like an idiot for not noticing."

"So she never told you she was?" Nora inquired, slightly surprised since Rebecca had made it seem that he had told everyone, therefore he had to have known before everyone else.

"No," Al reassured. "But people assumed I'd been told and then told everyone because of what had happened after Mya and I had split up the year before."

"Oh," Nora said with a slight hint of surprise. "Well this isn't so bad. You're really starting to make me look like a bitch now."

"Ya, but everything I just told you was not the stuff I was worried about telling you," Al said in a miserable voice.

Nora took a deep breath in and grabbed Al's clenched hand and held it in both of hers, making him turn his face to look at her. "I came into this conversation with an open mind Al, so just tell me what happened because I swear I won't over react," Nora said, giving him a meaningful look.

Al inhaled deeply. "Alright," he said and he gripped Nora's hand in thanks before continuing on with his story. "Last year I started talking to Rebecca for the first time because when I became a prefect she was also one. So, when we got to talking we found out that we had a lot in common and I really started to like her. That was when I asked her out and to my surprise she said yes."

"You actually really liked her huh?" Nora suddenly interrupted.

"Ya," Al said, pausing, his tone slightly regretful but he quickly shook it off and began his story where Nora had interrupted him. "We were dating for a little over 3 months when I started to get curious about what her dad did for a living. It was common knowledge around school that he didn't have a normal job and of course everyone always wanted to know exactly what he did. Andy was dead set at one point on the idea that he was some sort of ninja assassin," Al said and Nora snorted. Of course Andy would think something like that. "So I started to let my curiosity get the better of me and I started bothering her about it until I finally wore her down a few weeks later and she told me. She then told me that I was the first person in the entire school that she had ever told and that she trusted me with her secret," Al said and he heaved a long disappointed sigh before continuing.

"Unfortunately after she told me about her dad she started getting paranoid that I was going to tell someone about her dad and she started going on and on about how it wasn't a good idea to tell me, especially with my history," Al said with a look of displeasure.

"Oh," Nora said, knowing what was coming next.

"That was when I broke up with her. I had had enough of not being able to have a conversation with her without her freaking out over her dad's secret. Of course she had been angry after I'd broken up with her and she called me all sorts of things that made me a little depressed. Andy, a couple of weeks after we broke up, decided that I needed a party to get my mind off of Rebecca so we had one hell of a party and boy did I get drunk," Al said angrily.

Nora took a sharp breath in as a feeling of dread began to creep up her spine. "Al?" Nora said in a questioning tone, when she noticed how he had stopped talking.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "As I was saying, I was completely smashed and at some point I had gotten out of the Gryffindor common room and had begun to wander the hallways where I proceeded to run into Tatiana Zabini of all people," Al said, his voice turning angry and Nora guessed he was currently reliving that night as he was telling her the story.

"Don't tell me you hooked up with her," Nora said in a panicked voice.

"Woah. No. I don't think I could ever become drunk enough to do something like that," Al said reassuringly. "But she did start talking to me and she started asking me about my break up with Rebecca and why we weren't together anymore. So, in my angry drunken state, I blabbed a very important secret about the first girl I had actually ever really cared about to Tatiana bloody Zabini," Al exclaimed angrily and Nora watched in shock as Al's free hand clenched into an angry fist.

"So," Al continued. "By the next day what Rebecca's dad did for a living had become common knowledge around school and McGonagall quickly found out, with Monroe's help, that me and Zabini were the one's responsible. The ministry was called in and they basically obliviated everyone's memories about Rebecca's dad and forced her family to move. I had detention for close to two months, but not before my mother grounded me for half of last summer. The only reason why people don't talk about what happened last year now is because everyone's memories were modified so they really don't remember exactly what happened."

Nora continued to remain speechless. Rebecca had been right. Well at least about wronging her. She could truthfully say that she believed what Al had told her about what happened with Kara and Mya and she didn't need to read his mind to confirm that. But there was just one problem. Al had been completely out of it when Zabini had gotten the truth out of Al. Sure that didn't excuse his actions but it was really mostly all Zabini's fault the entire school found out in the first place. Nora couldn't believe it. She was, for the first time in a long time, overlooking a person's mistakes and accepting the fact that Al had obviously learned his lesson.

"Nora," Al said in a nervous voice. "Say something."

"I think," Nora began, "that we should never let you get that drunk ever again."

"What?" Al exclaimed in confusion.

"Well it's obvious from what you've told me that when you get drunk you turn into a blabbering idiot so no more large amounts of alcohol for you," Nora explained.

"You're not mad?" Al said flabbergasted.

"Oddly enough... no. But I am a little disappointed. I mean really, Zabini, of all people to talk to you chose her. She's a vindictive snake and now it's obvious that her favourite past time is ruining people's lives," Nora rambled.

Al just shook his head in astonishment at Nora's response. "I love you," he admitted before grabbing Nora's face and kissing her passionately. Nora got over her surprise quickly and swiftly responded fervently to his actions. After a few minutes of making out, and Al somehow making his way to lying on top of her, Nora reluctantly separated their lips with a small push.

"Okay Al," Nora said breathlessly and she watched as Al, completely undeterred by her pushing him away, went straight to kissing his way up her neck. Nora huffed loudly and continued to speak. "We need to stop before we get side tracked and I forget to tell you about my issues. So please get off of me for a moment."

Al groaned unhappily and lifted himself off of her and back to the place where he had been sitting before on the desk and Nora straightened herself up.

"Alright," Nora said, collecting her thoughts. She was actually going to do this. She was going to tell Al the truth and everything would be fine. At least she hoped. "I guess I'll start from the beginning."

* * *

"They've been gone for awhile haven't they," Alice commented.

"Well they did have a lot to talk about," David replied.

"Ya don't worry about those two," Rose said reassuringly to her friend. "I think Nora went into this conversation with an open mind so everything should be fine."

"I hope you're right," Alice said worriedly.

"I know I am," Rose replied. "You two want anything to drink?"

"No, I think we're going to go for a little walk," David said and he gave Alice an affectionate look.

Rose snorted. "Sure," she replied, winking at David and Alice suggestively causing the two of them to blush simultaneously. Rose grinned broadly and began to make her way through the hordes of dancing people around her to where Greyson was handing out drinks to anyone who wanted them, trying to ignore the slight twinge of jealousy that had suddenly taken root in the back of her mind.

"Hey Grey," Rose greeted and Greyson, as if by instinct, ducked under the table to hide. Rose rolled her eyes. "Get up Grey. I'm not going to get you in any trouble, since I would like something to drink myself."

Greyson exhaled in relief as he stood up. "Thank Merlin. What do you want?"

"Surprise me," Rose replied and Greyson set to work pouring various types of alcohol into a cup. "So where's James? I thought he was manning the bar tonight?" Rose asked, making conversation.

"Well," Greyson began slightly distracted by what he was doing. "Since he no longer has to be the quidditch nazi from hell, since the season is over, he immediately moved his focus to chasing after Shasta."

"Really?" Rose said in surprise.

"Oh ya," Greyson replied as he handed Rose her drink. "I'm pretty sure their upstairs together right now."

"Oh," Rose replied and she took her drink from his hand. "And why aren't you out charming every girl in the room?"

"I'm not really in the mood," Greyson said bitterly, pushing his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes; his single grey streak standing out like a beacon.

"You just won the quidditch cup and you're not in the mood to have fun, you never don't want to do something stupid," Rose said in disbelief and she took a sip of her drink. "Hey this is actually pretty good," she said in surprise

"Thanks," Greyson said. "And I'm not always in the mood to have fun."

"Oh," Rose said, realizing what was going on. "I'm guessing Lily's having fun with Ben tonight."

"Whatever," Greyson mumbled and began to hand out butterbeers to a group of fifth years and Rose knew their conversation was over.

Rose slowly made her way through the crowd of people, feeling slightly lonely knowing that she was going back to her seat just to sit by herself. Once Rose had managed to get her way through the chaos on the dance floor she settled herself in her comfy arm chair only to realize that she had just willingly sat down next to Scorpius.

"Weasley," he greeted raising his cup in her direction.

Rose sighed. Why hadn't she checked to see if anyone had taken David and Alice's seat? "Malfoy," Rose grumbled before taking a long drink from her cup.

"Having fun?" Scorpius questioned. Rose turned her head, eyebrow raised quizzically. For some reason he actually seemed interested.

"Sure," Rose drawled, sounding more bitter then she would have liked. "Al is with Nora, David is with Alice, Andy is with that slutty 7th year Slytherin, Jessica and I recently broke up with my boyfriend. How about you?"

Rose watched with displeasure as Scorpius laughed a little before responding. "I'm having an okay time for the bloke who just lost the quidditch cup to a bunch of idiots from Gryffindor."

"Well good for you," Rose replied grumpily.

"Happy belated birthday by the way," Scorpius commented. "I heard that you got quite the present."

"I assume you heard that from Nora," Rose replied.

"Actually... no," Scorpius replied, a small smile playing across his lips. "You could say I was the first one to knowabout your rose. Maybe even before you."

"Huh?" Rose said in confusion, giving him a scrutinizing look. Why did he look like he had just done something clever?

Scorpius suddenly lifted himself from his seat and turned to look at her. "I'll see you later Weasley and make sure to water your rose every once and awhile. Just because it's an everlasting one doesn't mean you can't kill it." Before Rose could say anything back, Scorpius was making his way over to Zabini not far from where Rose was sitting and she did not look pleased.

What did he mean he had known about her rose before she had? The only way that would be true would be if he had given it to her.

The realization hit Rose like a freight train. Rose turned her head and stared at Scorpius' back in complete disbelief. He had sent it to her. But... why? It didn't make any sense. Rose looked back over to where Scorpius and Zabini were arguing and she quickly received a look of rage from Zabini causing Rose to quickly turn her head and sink very low into her chair in an attempt to hide from Zabini's menacing look.

"Wonderful," Rose groaned and she quickly finished off the rest of her drink.

* * *

"Feel free to go as slow as you like Nora," Al said supportively. "I'm going to guess that what you have to tell me if a lot harder then what I just told you."

"Mhmm," Nora mumbled in agreement. Just do it Nora. Just get it all out of the way and out in the open. Nora took a deep breath in and out and began to tell Al all about how she had met Darius. She didn't cry like the last time she had told Scorpius everything. She had cried last time because she was having a mental breakdown. This time she was completely in control. Well, at least for now. However, Nora tried not to look at Al's face as much as possible because the more she told him about Darius, the angrier he got.

"And now know one knows where he is," Nora said, finished with one part of her story.

"So Darius, your murderous ex-boyfriend, is running around without anyone looking for him," Al exclaimed.

"People are looking for him," Nora said with a sigh. "Just not in the right places."

"Well where do you think he is?" Al asked slightly flustered.

"Here in the UK," Nora replied honestly and Al gaped at her. "He's smart Al. I wouldn't be surprised if he was right now trying to figure out a way to get into the school."

"There's no way he's going to," Al replied.

"Sirius Black did," Nora countered. "Loads of death eaters got in here during the last war. So, what's stopping Darius from finding a way in here?"

"I'll make sure my dad raises the security around here," Al assured and Nora shook her head.

"Your dad can't get too involved."

"Why?"

"Because of my dad and how he's too stubborn to admit that he needs help. Until he asks your dad, or anyone for that matter, they can't get involved," Nora explained.

"That's idiotic," Al said angrily.

"I know it is Al," Nora responded. "But I'm not done telling you things, so can we talk about this issue later."

Al gave her a frustrated look and began to relax a little. "I'm sorry. Please continue," Al offered calmly but Nora noticed a vein jumping in his neck so she decided to tread carefully.

"So after Darius killed Emily, school became very hard for me. People's parents were pulling their kids out and they were all blaming me for it. Most students hated me because, from what I heard, by the end of last year, about a quarter of the Academy's students had left and started going to Salem, which meant loads of peoples friends were leaving. Also, loads of parents were trying to get me expelled because I was a threat to their kid's safety."

"Gits," Al mumbled and Nora laughed.

"Ya, well... they were right." Nora noticed the shocked look on Al's face from the corner of her eye and he was about to say something when Nora lifted one of her hands to silence him.

"You can imagine that at this time I was practically losing it. I honestly could not understand why someone I had loved would literally destroy something I loved and with all the added stress of no one being on my side and all other students parents wanting me to leave school, I started to lose control of my powers. I could tell it was starting but I just didn't want to cause any more trouble so I stayed quiet," Nora explained miserably.

"But that was the wrong thing to do. A week or so after Emily was murdered a bunch of seventh year girls started getting on my case and they ended up telling me that I should leave because I was no longer wanted. For some reason those words were what made me snap," Nora said and she looked at Al who was staring at her with a look of compassion. "You remember my first Hogsmeade weekend and how I made you knock me out?"

"Of course," Al replied gently. "I've never seen you look so terrified."

Nora nodded. "I told you I would hurt a lot of people if you didn't because I had done it once before," Nora said mournfully and she suddenly began to cry.

"Nora," Al said reassuringly. "It's okay. Just tell me what happened."

Nora took a shaky breath in. "I still don't know how to explain it but I suddenly developed this intense headache, just like in Hogsmeade. Healers told me that it was because I let all my stress build up to the point where I had a mental breakdown. Unfortunately for me, sometimes my mental breakdowns are different then your run of the mill meltdown. When I started freaking out in front of those 5 girls my mind literally got rid of all of the stress that had been weighing on it by sending some sort of telepathic wave from me, hitting those 5 girls and 2 third year boys who were walking by. It was just my luck too that since my brain runs a little differently than other peoples; whatever telepathic crap that came out of my mind that night put all 7 of those people into instant comas," Nora described with anger and she heard Al's audible sharp intake of breath as she said the word comas but she continued on.

"I remember watching them all collapse and destroying a few tables and chairs around me as I fought for control over my mind but I just eventually ended up blacking out," Nora continued. "The next thing I knew I was waking up in the hospital a week later where I was told exactly what I had done and how I had been expelled because I was not safe for other kids to be around anymore."

"Oh Merlin," Al said, his voice pained.

"My dad quickly made sure to cover up the entire mess by saying that he was pulling me out of school because of my mental health and he swore all 7 of those families to secrecy. Eventually all 7 of the students I put in coma's woke up and they were sworn to secrecy as well and they had to make up excuses as to why they were gone from school for so long. As for me, I spent the rest of the year in therapy and locked up in my house," Nora said with resentment.

"Nora," Al began but Nora stopped him again and continued.

"There was a moment where I wanted to end it," Nora admitted, tears falling down her face. "There was a moment where I wanted to jump out a window or just _Avada Kedavra_ myself and to be honest, I think I might have if it wasn't for Longbottom and McGonagall showing up at my house in July last summer where they asked me if I wanted to come here in September. I pretended like I was tough," Nora said with a watery smile, remembering Longbottom sitting uncomfortably on one of her dad's antique chairs and McGonagall, almost 100 years old, and still able to argue spectacularly with her father. "I pretended like I was some lost cause, since that was what my dad told me I was, but the two of them managed to make me believe, just a little, that I was worth something. And then they set up meetings with the board of governors and once they decided that I had been rehabilitated McGonagall accepted me here instantly. But even to this day, I still wonder if my dad has always been right about me. Because I wonder all the time if all I'll ever be is the thing that causes pain in other people's lives."

Nora could tell Al was shocked without looking at him and she waited sadly for him to call her a freak or run away from her, just like everyone else. She hadn't even told Scorpius that she had wanted to kill herself.

"You," Al said shakily and Nora winced instinctively, waiting for his insult. "You," Al said again, "are definitely worth something and you may have caused me some pain Nora, but I can honestly say I love after all the shit we've put ourselves through."

Nora was stunned. She had never heard Al speak with such conviction before. She turned her head to look at him, a fresh batch of tears pooling in her eyes. Al noticed this instantly and he swiftly wrapped his arms around her, causing her to instantly break out in tears.

"Hey, hey," Al said stroking the back of her head. "Don't cry. I'm not used to it so you're kind of freaking me out."

Nora snorted. "That's one hell of a way to seduce a crying girl," she sniffed, pulling away from him. "Tell her you're freaking me out."

"I'm charming, what can I say," he said with a grin, obviously trying to get her to smile. "So is that everything you wanted to tell me?"

"There's one more thing," Nora said hesitantly. "It has to do with why my dad resents me so much."

Al stared at her in confusion. "I thought he was just a psycho and there was no explanation."

"No there is one," Nora said in a distracted voice.

"What is it?" Al asked.

Nora took a deep breath in and with a straight face replied. "He thinks I'm the reason why my mother is dead."

Nora watched as Al's jaw dropped in astonishment and he stared at her in utter disbelief. "Your dad thinks you had a part in your mom's death. Merlin, he is a psycho. I mean he actually has the stomach to say that you might have killed your mom," Al said with a laugh of disbelief. But Al quickly stopped when he saw that Nora's expression had not changed and he gave her a hard look. "You told me she died from Alzheimer's when you were 12."

"She did," Nora replied her mind racing. She had a feeling that this part of her past might be the thing that scared Al away for good but she knew she owed it to herself and Al to be completely honest. Even if it meant pushing him away forever.

"Then I don't understand," Al said in confusion.

"You know how when I had my telepathic meltdown after Darius murdered Emily and I put those people in comas. Well, that's not the first time I'd ever done that," Rose admitted her voice becoming shaky.

Al just stared at her and Nora was unable to read his emotions so she continued. When I was little I had temper tantrums just like any other kid. But the problem was I wasn't like every other kid so sometimes I would get a little carried away and I would go into one of my telepathic meltdowns. I had a grand total of four before I turned 8 and each time my mum was the one who got the brunt of the shock waves. But unlike those students, my mom never fell into a coma. Instead she would just get pushed over and she was fine. However, as the years passed my mom started forgetting things so my dad, being the worried husband, insisted that she go to the doctor since she was a muggle," Nora explained, talking in a very emotionless voice.

"She came back after her check up and told my dad that there might be a possibility that she had Alzheimer's. So, at first my dad just accepted it since it was normal for muggles to get this disease and my mum was already 50 years old since they had had me a bit later on in their years. But as the year passed my mom got worse faster than any Alzheimer's case the muggle doctor's had ever seen. At this point my dad was freaking out so he was able to get one of his wizard healer friends to come take a look at my mom. At first they couldn't figure out what was going on but one day when I was playing with some of my toys the healer noticed how I could levitate things so easily without a wand, especially for a child who had yet to even start school. My dad replied that I was special and that I could somehow use some form of telekinesis. I remember the healer getting this weird look on his face and telling my dad that he had heard about my case and then he pulled my dad into the other room to talk to him," Nora explained. A single tear escaped Nora's eyes and rolled down her cheek, her blank expression never faltering as she began to relive one of her most painful moments.

"Suddenly my dad started yelling and shouting from the other room and I was only 10 so I had no idea what was going on and the next thing I knew my dad was suddenly in the room and he literally grabbed a hold of both of my arms and he began to shake me, the entire time he was sobbing and saying 'what have you done.'" Nora said, her body beginning to shake.

"It turned out that the healer had a theory that my magic, in high doses, was dangerous for everyone because it could possibly alter people's brain waves. The healer believed that my mom would have one day gotten Alzheimer's but with my repeated over dosage of my magic, it sped up the process. So, for the next couple of years I got to watch as my mother wasted away and forgot about me and my father grow to hate me more and more each day," Nora said wretchedly and she turned to look at Al's silent form. "So, there you go. I'm the monster who caused my own mother's death and I have to live with that every single day."

Both of Al and Nora remained silent for a few minutes as Nora braced herself for the worse. There was no way he was going to take this lightly. There was absolutely no way.

"It's not true," Al suddenly said in an angry voice.

"What?" Nora said in confusion.

Al suddenly lifted his hands and grabbed a hold of her face, making her look at him. "You are not a monster and right now I hate your father for making you think that when you were only a little girl."  
Nora stared at Al in bewilderment. "Didn't you just hear me? The healer said that-,"

"I don't give a damn what the healer said," Al interrupted, rage dancing in his emerald green eyes. "Your father should have protected you, he should have comforted you. Instead he blamed you, a little innocent girl, for his wife's death. I swear to god if I ever see that man, I'm going to kill him for what he put you through."

"But how can you defend me?" Nora exclaimed. "I know I had a hand in my mother's death, especially after I put all those people in comas. That just proved it."

"No it does not Nora," Al replied angrily. "You put those people in comas; you didn't give them Alzheimer's. You and your father's beliefs about how much involved you were with your mother's death are all based on one healer's theory. A theory."

"But it could be right," Nora said in small voice, tears streaming down her face. "I could be the monster who killed my mother."

"You are not a monster," Al said fervently, shaking her slightly. "And I will spend as much time as it takes to make you believe that you did not have any hand in your mother's death."

"But-," Nora whimpered.

"Enough Nora," Al said in a strong voice, silencing her instantly. "You are going to stop blaming yourself right now for this because there is no proof that you hurt your mother at all."

Nora nodded meekly and Al let go of her face only to wrap his arms around her in a comforting embrace where Nora continued to cry. How could this be happening? Al, instead of running in the opposite direction, was trying to convince her that she wasn't responsible for her mother's death and was threatening to kill her father. Nora couldn't believe it. She had to have found the most perfect guy in the world and she honestly had no idea if she actually deserved him. But that thought was silenced when Al continued to reassure her while stroking the back of her head. "It's okay Nora," Al said comfortingly. "I'm here to protect you now and I swear no one is ever going to hurt you like this ever again."

* * *

A/N- So this was a very long and emotional chapter. I did try to lighten it up a little in the middle with a little Rose/Scorp revelation. Poor Rosie. She is so clueless as to what is going on. So this was a speedy quick update and I promise that the rest will probably be quick as well. Also, if anyone was wondering, there will be a sequel to this story and I have just recently begun working on it. A little something to look forward to I guess. Anyway, please read and review as always. :D


	25. The Calm Before The Storm

Chapter 25- The Calm Before The Storm

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, so please do not sue me. :)

* * *

"I'm so happy you two have worked everything out between you," Alice gushed.

"So am I," Al said with a laugh and Nora shoved Al lightly.

Rose heaved a sigh, looking away from that day's edition of the Daily Prophet to stare out the window of the train compartment Rose and her friends were in as the Hogwarts Express passed by a small muggle village that was nestled in a group of green hills.

"I think we're all thankful that you two aren't fighting anymore," Andy said with a hint of exasperation.

Rose smiled a little at Andy's tone. Rose was honestly very happy that Al and Nora had talked and everything had went smoothly. Nora had seemed slightly shaken when Rose had first seen her after she had returned from talking to Al but Rose had a pretty good idea why that was. However, as the week passed by, Nora seemed to calm down a little and Al seemed a lot more protective of her then he had ever been. Rose could tell that Nora wasn't happy about his protective behaviour but she still seemed to appreciate whatever he was doing.

"Anything of note happening in the world Rosie?" David suddenly asked and Rose turned her head to see him gesturing towards the newspaper in her lap.

"Nothing important," Rose responded. "There was just a break in at a potion's shop in Diagon Alley yesterday. Other than that today appears to be a very uneventful day."

"Speaking of uneventful," Alice began. "I think it's high time that we gave Nora her birthday gift."  
"My birthday gift?" Nora questioned in confusion.

"Well after what happened on your birthday," Alice explained hesitantly. "We were unable to give you your gift because..."

"Because I wasn't talking to all of you," Nora finished. "You don't need to be sensitive with me anymore. I promise that's all in the past."

"Good," David said with a smile and then he began to rummage through his bag from which he produced a slightly dented wrapped present with a large rumpled silver bow on top of it, which he handed to Nora. "Sorry it's so dented. It's kind of been on a few trips now."

Nora laughed a little and she began to unwrap her long overdue birthday present. Rose watched in anticipation as Nora lifted the lid off of the box that the present had been nestled in to reveal a wooden picture frame with a picture of Nora, David, Al, Alice, Andy, Rose and much to Rose's surprise, Scorpius all gathered together for a slightly entertaining group photo. Alice was trying not to fall off of David's back, Nora and Al were holding hands and staring at each other lovingly, Andy was making funny faces at them to their right and Rose and Scorpius, much to her embarrassment were surveying each other with rather intently. Rose could even describe the look on Malfoy's face as an expression of hunger.

"Well I didn't expect it to look like that but good work Rosie," Andy said with a laugh.

"I don't understand," Nora said in confusion but the smile on her face seemed to show how much she liked her present. "We've never all taken a picture like this."

"Let me explain," Rose began, trying to ignore what she was doing in the picture in front of her. "We all know that you've never really had much of a family so we decided to give you a gift that would help make sure that you always knew that you had a family."

"Okay," Nora said, still confused. "So how is it that this picture is real?"

"That was a lot of charm work from our resident genius," Andy explained.

"Ya," Al added. "We all spent money buying the frame, buying the book that would help Rose make the thing and then the right magical photo paper. It was an effort and a half to get this thing to work right but Rose came through in the end."

"But you still haven't told me how it works," Nora said slightly impatient.

"I was able to charm that piece of magical photo paper to recognize who you believed to be your family and how you saw them in real life," Rose explained. "It was a little difficult to make sure that the photo would change as we got older or as you started to recognize more people as your family and I really had no idea if it was going to work or not."

"But since Malfoy is in the picture now and ogling Rose, it proves that the thing works," Andy commented and Rose shot him a look of displeasure.

"Wait until Malfoy sees it though Andy," David said with a laugh. "He should really find it interesting."

"I don't know what to say you guys," Nora suddenly exclaimed, obviously ignoring Andy and David's comments. "This is probably the best late birthday present I've ever gotten."

"Well you are welcome honey," Alice said happily.

Rose watched with a slight smile as Al took one of Nora's hands and squeezed it affectionately earning him a loving smile.

"Oh young love," Andy replied with an over exaggerated sigh. "I love how much it makes me want to vomit."

Rose laughed as Nora let go of Al's hand and balled up the leftover wrapping paper and threw it at his head and Alice gave Andy a large scowl before commenting on his view of love. "You just wait Andy," Alice warned. "One day some poor unfortunate girl will make you fall in love and then she will be stuck with you forever."

"I doubt that," Andy replied with a smirk in Alice's direction. "I plan on becoming rich and having slightly dumb 20 year olds chase after me for the rest of my life."

"You're so full of yourself mate," David laughed.

Rose watched with a happy smile as everyone began to make fun of Andy for being such an egotistical idiot and she couldn't help but hope that things would stay the way they were but Rose had a horrible feeling that something bad was going to happen soon. Rose had ended up doing more research on Darius and the only conclusion she could come to was that even though he was murdering lunatic, he was a smart murdering lunatic. Rose was 99% sure that Darius was already somewhere in the country biding his time for the opportune moment to strike. Or at least find Hogwarts.

"Hey Rosie!" Andy shouted, struggling to fight off David who was for some reason trying to tackle him. "Would you help me out here? Everyone is ganging up on me because I'm single and they're going mad over what they know they've all given up."

"Poor baby," Rose said mockingly.

"You're a traitor," Andy said in a slightly muffled voice as he tried to push David off of him.

Alice gave David and Andy disapproving looks and she turned to look at Rose. "So Rosie, I never asked you, but what did you do last weekend after we left you to go for our walk," Alice asked.

Rose's face scrunched up unpleasantly at the memory. "I talked to Greyson for a little bit where I found out about Shasta and James."

"Well that's all common knowledge," Nora replied and she gave Rose a large smile. "Anything else?"

Rose scowled as she caught a glimpse of the photo resting in Nora's lap. She had obviously talked to Scorpius. "Nope," Rose lied and gave Nora a meaningful look. "Nothing important."

Nora gave her a large smile and turned her gaze towards Alice; showing Rose that she was ignoring her. "Well I heard that you figured out who sent you your lovely little rose," Nora said.

"She what?" David and Andy chorused.

"You found out who sent it to you?" Al questioned. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because she's embarrassed," Nora replied with a grin.

"Oh did that creepy little second year Larry Kline send it to you," Alice said with a disgusted face.

"No," Rose replied, slightly offended that Alice thought would send her a rose would be some weird little first year.

"Wait," Al said slightly astounded. "It's from Malfoy isn't it?"

Rose tried to think up a different excuse but she took far too long to think of something. "Yes," she replied grudgingly.

"Oh my god," Alice exclaimed. "He totally loves you!"

"He does not," Rose replied in a slightly panicked voice.

"He definitely does," Alice squealed.

"Would you shut up," Rose exclaimed. "Someone could hear you."

"Do you like him?" Al questioned in concern.

"Definitely not," Rose snapped automatically. "And he does not like me. I think he just likes to cause trouble or something."

"I think the trouble is unintentional," Nora suggested with a smile and her eyes darted towards the compartment door.

"Whatever," Rose snapped, ignoring Nora. "Can we just drop the subject and talk about something else?"

"I don't think that's possible," Andy replied with a chuckle.

"Why?" Rose protested loudly.

"Because the subject is standing in the door way," David answered awkwardly.

Rose turned her head slowly with a visible grimace to see Scorpius standing in the compartment doorway with a very uncomfortable look on his face. Rose instantly felt her face heat up in embarrassment and she slumped down in her seat in the hopes that she would be well hidden from the guy staring at her in the doorway.

"Scorp," Nora greeted, getting up from her seat to hug her friend. "You just missed me opening up my very late birthday present. You guys don't mind that I invited him to stop by." Everyone shook their heads 'no' when they saw the meaningful look on Nora's face when she turned around to look at them. "Lovely," she replied and turned back to look at Scorpius.

Rose's eyes darted away from Scorpius for a second to see Al struggling not to look annoyed about Scorpius being so close to Nora.

"Did I now," Scorpius responded, his tone of voice easily giving away how unpleasant he found the current situation he was in, but Nora seemed to ignore that fact.

"Yes you did. And there's no need to act so excited Scorp. You're starting to make me think that it's your birthday," Nora replied sarcastically.

Scorpius gave Nora a crooked smile and Rose felt her insides churn in appreciation. Oh Merlin. Just tell him to leave. He's had a long enough visit by now. We both know how much he would rather be anywhere else other then here, especially with Al glaring at him like that.

Without thinking about what other people would think or why she was doing it, since Al's displeased expression would obviously make Scorpius leave faster, Rose kicked Al in the shin causing him to swear loudly in pain. Somehow Al's outburst was all that was needed to get rid of some of the tension in the room since everyone seemed to surprised and confused to act awkward. Al shot Rose a disapproving look and averted his eyes from Scorpius.

"Well," Nora said looking at her boyfriend in confusion. "Would you like to see what they all got me Scorp?"  
Rose suddenly began to panic. What would Scorpius think when he saw the picture? "Sure," Scorpius replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Andy seemed to find this all very entertaining and he began to explain what the picture actually was. "Rose worked really hard on it Malfoy. You see, she was able to charm this special magical photo paper to show only whoever Nora considered to be her closest friends and family. It literally looks like a photo we may have taken one day at Hogwarts but you can definitely tell we never took it."

Rose shot Andy a furious look but he didn't seem to notice. "Why's that?" Scorpius asked curiously.

Nora reached over to where she was once sitting and grabbed her present and Rose stared miserably as she placed it into Scorpius' outstretched hands. Rose watched as he looked down and remained looking down; his face a mask of shock.

"Because you're in it mate," Andy answered with a pleased look on his face.

Rose knew she was probably the colour of a ripe tomato by now. This honestly had to be the most embarrassing moment of her entire life. She would have done anything to get out of this moment, even if it meant committing suicide because, right then, dying seemed like a much better option than remaining stuck in the situation she was currently in.

Everyone watched as Scorpius slowly handed the photo back to Nora with a content look on his face. "I like it," Scorpius said.

"I thought you would," Nora replied and Rose's eyes flitted between the two friends in confusion because they both appeared to be conveying what they were actually talking about telepathically, something Rose was pretty sure Nora could actually do anyway.

"I'll talk to you later since I'm pretty sure I'm over doing my visit," Scorpius said, his eyes both looking at Al and Rose.

"That appears to be true," Nora replied sending a glare in Al's direction. "I'll send you a letter in a couple of days. Merlin knows it will probably be the highlight of your entire break."

"Ha ha," Scorpius replied sarcastically as he backed out of the compartment. "You do know you're not that special Nora."

"Keep talking buddy and you'll be out of this picture before you know it."

Rose watched Scorpius laugh lightly as he walked away down the corridor but not before sending her a fleeting look. Rose felt her insides turn to goo just over the sound of his laughter and she slumped, mentally defeated, even further into her seat. What the hell was wrong with her?

"He seems a lot more pleasant than I remember him," Alice said sheepishly.

"Probably because he is," Nora replied as she sat back in her seat. "And you were not helping anyone by glaring at him like that Al. You were looking at him like he'd just threatened to kill me or something."

"Well he was a giant git when we were younger," David offered.

"And you looked far too tall for your age Dave," Nora shot back. "I've seen pictures. Being a 6 foot tall thirteen year old made you look like a giant. Everyone's different when their kids."

"Hey! I just hit puberty at a weird age," David exclaimed.

"She's right mate," Andy responded. "Everyone thought you were half-giant or something."

David glared at Andy, heaved an angry sigh and fell silent. Alice patted him comfortingly on the arm and looked back at Nora. "I had no idea that you two had gotten so close. It's kind of refreshing to see that a Gryffindor and a Slytherin can be such good friends. Also, he sure did like that picture of the 6 of us and him, which confirms my suspicions about him loving Rose."

Rose spluttered loudly at Alice's suggestion. "Now just wait one minute. How the bloody hell does that prove that he loves me?"

"It just does," Alice replied stubbornly.

"I think what Alice is trying to say is that since he liked the way you two looked in the photo then he must want that to happen in real life," Nora explained.

Rose gave a dirty look and, with no other excuses to think of, decided to voice how pissed off she was. "I hate you," Rose said angrily.

"That's not very nice Rosie," Andy said with a chuckle.

"I don't trust him," Al suddenly said. "How do you know you can trust him Nora?"

Rose stared at her cousin in confusion, anger dissipating slightly. Did Al think that Scorpius knew just as much as he did about Nora? And if that was true, Rose had a sneaking suspicion that Scorpius knew about Nora's past before Al did. Rose sighed since she knew how much Al would hate that.

Nora rolled her eyes. "I know I can trust him Al because he is a lot like me and if you would stop living in the past and actually had a decent conversation with him, you would realize that he is a lot different than he was a couple of years ago."

"Maybe," Al replied, obviously still unconvinced about the new and improved Scorpius.

"Just forget about it Al," Andy replied. "We're going to home soon anyway."

Rose bit her lip in thought. Rose, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it, knew Nora was right. Scorpius had barely said a negative word about her all year. Instead, he enjoyed tormenting her by telling her she was beautiful and then running away as soon as she was about to say something or ask him what the bloody hell was going on.

What the hell was going on? It had to be the million dollar question right now. When the hell did Scorpius start to give a crap about her? Was it when he realized she was a girl? Or was it when he realized that other guys had also realized she was a girl? However, she was never going to be able to ask him any of this because it was as if every time he was put in a situation where he was alone with her, he knew exactly what to do to get away from her. It was the same thing every time. He would say something revealing about himself that would confuse her, but it wouldn't be too revealing in order to not give her a clue about what he was actually thinking. Rose gritted her teeth and looked out the window. Rose was pissed off and confused, but she had come to one conclusion none the less.

Scorpius was scared. And what was he scared of?

Well, as of that moment, she could only think one answer.

Scorpius Malfoy was scared of her.

* * *

Leaning up against the cold grey stone pillar in King's Cross Station was a young man with pale white skin, long black hair and a slight beard that was in desperate need of a trim. He peered around the wall he was slightly concealed behind to see several different people appearing out of the wall in between Platforms 9 and 10 in the middle of King's Cross station.

"Smart," he whispered aloud in his silky voice his black eyes soulless eyes staring intently at the families that walked away from the barrier. "What better way to hide a train platform reserved only for witches and wizards then in plain sight for all muggles to completely ignore."

Security was probably light. They most likely had no idea that he was in the country right now so why would they place guards near the opening to platform 9 3/4. Why would they even put any magical boundaries on the gateway either? He smiled gleefully as he watched a chattering family pop out of the barrier.

"Maybe I should check?" he said a loud, still smiling broadly. The young man pulled out his stolen wand, but kept it hidden at his side, and loped into the crowd towards the barrier. He stood a couple metres in front of it, looked to both of his sides to see if anyone was watching him, closed his eyes and then ran at the barrier; promptly disappearing from anyone's view only to reappear again with a loud laugh that startled several people around him. He ignored them and ran back to the spot where he was previously hiding from any searching looks. While no one was looking for him, he still knew there were a couple of people who could recognize him.

His back once again to the stone wall, he peered around the corner to watch as several more families popped out of the barrier, as his plan slowly began to fall into place. Now all he needed was the perfect disguise.

That was when he saw her. She popped out of the barrier laughing with several other people her age. "Nora," he whispered a loud, his voice slightly in awe. She was glowing slightly, something even the muggles in the station could notice without trouble. He watched as a few adults appeared behind the group of teenagers and the young man instantly slunk back into the shadows when he recognized a couple of them. He glanced quickly past the wall to see Harry Potter talking with someone who had to be Hermione Weasley. He quickly turned his gaze away and exhaled to try and calm himself. That had been the risk of coming here today. He knew that there was a chance of Harry Potter being there but he knew that even the Harry Potter doubted that he was smart enough to get out of Canada.

Was he ever wrong.

Pushing his hair out of his eyes, the young man peered around the wall to watch Nora talking with people who appeared to be her friends. He watched as a guy with dirty blonde hair said his goodbyes to the rest of them and then rushed off to where ever his parents were and Darius looked back at Nora only to recoil in disgust and fury.

"Who the hell is that!?" he whispered with a snarl. The man was absorbed by the scene in front of her. He watched as a boy that looked to be Nora's age slung one of his arms around Nora's neck and then proceeded to give her a quick kiss on the lips. The revulsion the man felt was almost uncontrollable and he grabbed his wand, ready to hex the boy who had his hands on Nora.

"No," he whispered to himself. "You can take care of him later."

The young man lowered his wand and watched as Harry Potter and Hermione Weasley approached the group of teenagers Nora was with. Harry Potter put a hand on the shoulder of the boy who had kissed Nora and the man realized who he was.

"He's Harry Potter's son," the man hissed angrily and an older couple who walking by stared at the dishevelled looking man warily.

The man watched as Harry Potter led his son away from the group of teens along with another son and a girl that obviously had to be Potter's daughter. The rest of the group began to file away to their families leaving Nora alone with two red headed and Hermione Weasley. The red headed girl that looked about Nora's age had a very angry look on her face and Nora seemed to be trying to cheer her up but the girl appeared to not be listening.

The young man watched as Nora walked away from the wall that hid Platform 9 ¾ and he longed to follow her but he knew he needed to figure out what his disguise was going to be.

And then it appeared in front of him like a sign sent to him from the heaven's.

The young man smiled sickly as a pair of twins popped out of the barrier and began to walk towards the bathroom he was standing near.

"Sarah you totally stained my shirt," one of the twins exclaimed.

"I did not Sharon. You walked into me," the other girl exclaimed.

The first twin huffed loudly in indignation. "Whatever. Let me wash this off and then let's go find mum and dad."

The man watched with a smile as one twin stopped walking and the other walked past him and into the washroom that was right near him. The young man looked back to make sure the other twin wasn't going to follow her sister into the bathroom and then, with a smile, followed her inside, wand outstretched.

* * *

A/N- This chapter had all sorts of things. A whole bunch of fluffiness, Rose and Scorpius tension, Al/Nora interaction and a dangerous man in the shadows. Three guesses as to who it is. The next few chapters will be filled with drama since we are slowly getting to the climax of the story. Anyway, I will update quickly for the next few chapters as well. Please read and review. Thanks! :D


	26. Out Of The Shadows

Chapter 26- Out Of The Shadows

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, so please do not sue me.

* * *

"I'm telling you I'm not lying. I went to the bathroom in King's Cross station to clean my shirt when I heard someone coming in to the bathroom behind me. I turned to look and see who it was and then the next thing I remembered was waking up on the dirty bathroom floor with no memory of how I got there," Sharon Grenning insisted to a group of frightened looking third year Hufflepuff girls, while Sarah bobbed her head emphatically beside her, and Rose couldn't help but roll her eyes as she took a sip of her butterbeer.

"I've really had enough of hearing about Sharon Grenning's brush with death," Andy muttered darkly, "she probably just slipped on a puddle of water and hit her head off of the floor. She's making it sound like she survived an alien abduction."

Alice giggled at Andy's comment and Nora gave him a meaningful look. "At least you don't have to live with her," she grumbled. "She goes on and on about her almost murder and now she thinks she can see into the realm of the dead. I walked into the room last night to see her and her sister performing a séance in the middle of the damn room. I almost burnt my foot on a fucking lit candle since they were all over the damn floor."

"So that's why you started screaming after we got back from the library," Al said with a laugh and Nora glared at him.

"Keep it up mister and the only thing we'll ever be doing in the library is studying from now on," Nora snapped and everyone burst into raucous laughter, making several other people in the pub turn to look in their direction.

The group of friends were currently in Hogsmeade for a much needed outing as a group since Nora and Al were still experiencing the honeymoon stage of their relationship and David and Alice's honeymoon stage was, by the looks of things, never going to end, therefore the two pairs of couples had been spending a lot of time with each other. This was something Rose had not minded at first, since she still had Andy to talk to, but then she remembered, after spending only a day with him, how he was unable to shut his mouth for longer than 30 seconds. Rose had ended up hanging out with Lily and Hugo and all of their friends, which was an experience for everyone involved. All Rose would say was that there was a possibility that Lily and her friends were probably going to be breaking laws and going to prison when they got out of school and Hugo was a bigger nerd then she was.

"Wow Al," Andy commented. "You're whipped already."

"I am not," Al argued. "I just know when to shut up. Something you apparently have yet to learn according to Rose."

David snorted into his drink causing butterbeer to spray from his cup and Andy glared at his best friend.

"Come on," Alice declared changing the subject. "We should start heading back to the carriages. It'll be dinner in about an hour."

"Good plan," Al replied. "I'm starving."

It had been two and a half very uneventful weeks since they had all returned to Hogwarts after Easter break. It was now the beginning of May and all Rose had been doing lately was studying for finals at the end of the year and listening to the Grenning twin's paranoid ramblings. As entertaining as they were, the voice in the back of her head was nagging her to pay more attention to what the twin's had to say. She honestly had no idea why since the Grenning twin's had once claimed that they had seen the Loch Ness monster in the Black Lake, so she didn't often pay much attention to what they had to say.

Rose pushed her troubled thoughts aside and took a deep breath in. She couldn't deny how beautiful the day had turned out to be. Rose fell a few steps behind her friends as they made their way down the cobblestone street that ran through the middle of Hogsmeade towards the carriage lot, deciding that she wanted to try and enjoy the rest of the day as much as possible before she had to go back to studying.

Rose smiled as she watched her friends. She had never seen Nora look so happy and all Al was doing was telling her a story about the time Andy tried to ride a broom for the first time and Andy, who looked very unimpressed, was trying to defend himself. Rose turned her head to see Alice and David walking a little ways a way from everyone else; both of them staring at each other so lovingly that Rose was willing to bet money that one day she would be attending their wedding. Just watching how happy her friends were made Rose truly believe that one day she could be just as happy and that together they could get through any hardships.

Rose was startled when she felt someone brush past her and she looked forward to see that it had been Scorpius, whose head was now turned to look back at her as he walked towards where all the carriages were parked. He only gave her a quick nod and a small smile before turning his head around but Rose felt a blush starting to spread across her cheeks none the less. Rose quickly averted her gaze from Scorpius' back and found her eyes, completely by chance; glued to a person she had hoped she would never have to see.

Rose stopped and gaped in shock at an alleyway only a good 15 feet away from her that several groups of students walked past without giving it a single thought. But Rose wasn't in shock over the alleyway. She was in shock over who was standing in its opening leaning casually against one of the buildings. Rose stared in horror at Darius Morzane, who was dressed in a pair of scruffy jeans and a black t-shirt; a wand that was obviously not his clutched in his hand. He had yet to see her watching him, since his gaze was fixed on Nora who was still walking towards the carriages, her hand now being held by Al's. Rose watched as Morzane's gaze hardened considerably when Rose guessed he had noticed Al and Nora's closeness. Morzane turned his disgusted face away from Nora's fleeting figure and his gaze swept past Rose only for it to come quickly back when he noticed her staring.

At first Morzane seemed genuinely shocked by her reaction to him standing in the alleyway but he relaxed when he noticed her look of fear. A smirk slowly spread across his features and he winked in her direction before apparating from where he was standing.

Rose continued to stare, silently praying that what she had just seen was a figment of her imagination. But she knew she was silly to think otherwise. That had been Darius Morzane in that alley and he had definitely looked angry when he had seen Nora with Al. The question now was, what was he planning on doing and when was he planning on doing it?

"Oi Rose!" Andy yelled loudly from down the street, lifting her out of her shock induced trance. "What's the hold up?"

"Nothing," she yelled back distractedly and she quickly hurried towards where her friends were waiting with the distinct feeling that someone was watching her. And the terrifying thing was that she knew exactly who it was.

* * *

It had been 5 days since Rose had seen Darius in Hogsmeade. Five long days filled with Rose thinking every possible paranoid or farfetched thought her stressed mind could possibly come up with. She honestly had no idea what to think, except for the fact that Nora, and most likely Al, were in grave danger. She was probably in danger as well since Darius now knew that she knew he was lurking around. But her biggest problem was how she was going to warn Nora that Darius was here, when she couldn't just go up to Nora and tell her without risking reactivating Nora's trust issues.

"Are the Grenning twin's in a fight?" David suddenly asked as he sat down with Rose, Al and Nora, startling Rose from her thoughts. It seemed that David had just got back from visiting Alice and Andy, who were busy doing a Care of Magical Creatures report together that night and from what Rose knew about Andy's work ethic, the two of them would be in the library all night.

"No," Nora answered in confusion as she looked up from her study notes.

"Then I saw something really weird today," David replied.

"Like what?" Rose asked, thankful for the distraction.

"Well, I was studying today in the Great Hall when I felt someone brush up against me. So, when I looked to see who it was it turned out to be one of the Grenning twin's."

"Wait," Al interrupted. "One of the Grenning twin's?"

"That's what I thought," David replied in disbelief. "I swear those two are attached at the hip. In the six years we've been here I have never seen them apart once."

"What was she doing?" Rose questioned.

"She was just walking through the Great Hall since after she brushed past me she went out the Great Hall doors and was gone," David answered with a shrug. "But that's not the weirdest part. Literally about 30 seconds later, both of the Grenning twins walked in together from the opposite direction the first Grenning twin had gone when she had left."

"Huh," Al replied with a puzzled look.

"And they seemed fine when they came in," David replied in bewilderment. "They were both hunched over and whispering to each other like they usually do."

"Maybe you're just over thinking things Dave," Nora said. "Maybe the one Grenning twin was going to meet the other."

"You're probably right," David said with a sigh. "It's just the thing that bothered me the most was the fact that the twin that brushed against me was walking kind of like you do Nora when you're pissed. It was really strange."

"Don't worry about it mate," Al said reassuringly, clapping his friend on the back. "You're probably just over worked."

"Ya," David nodded half-heartedly. "That's true."

Rose looked at David worriedly. The Grenning twin's didn't know how to be angry at someone. That was a fact. They were too wrapped up in their own world to really care what anyone else thought about them. So for one of the Grenning twin's to look pissed to Dave and then 30 seconds be acting the way she normally did, was bizarre even for those two.

"Al?" Rose questioned distractedly. "Do you want to do rounds tonight? I can do them by myself if you're too busy."

"If you did I would love you forever, Rosie. I have enough homework to overwhelm even you," Al replied, slightly hysterical.

"It's not that much Al," Nora said in exasperation.

"Last time I checked I wasn't gifted at everything like someone else I know," Al snapped back and Nora shot him a look of intense dislike.

Rose, sensing that it was time to leave, decided to make her goodbyes. "I'll see you lot later," Rose said quickly before hurrying up to her room with her work to get ready for her rounds.

* * *

"Weasley," Rufus barked. "Where's Potter?"

Rose sighed. "He's busy doing work tonight, Hallows."

Rufus gave her a displeased looked before responding. "Five points from Gryffindor for Potter shirking his responsibilities onto his cousin."

Everyone of the Gryffindor's around Rose let out angry groans but Rufus ignored them. Rose scowled at the head boy. When she was head girl and Al was head boy, they would understand why prefects needed to take a night off to do work, especially at this time of year.

"Lynch," Hallows snapped at the 7th year Slytherin prefect. "Where's Zabini and Malfoy?"

Lynch shrugged his shoulders. "No idea," he answered. Rufus turned an unpleasant plum colour, showing how annoyed he was, but before he could start ranting to the rest of them about their responsibilities Scorpius showed up at Rose's side, practically making her jump out of her skin.

"I'm here," Scorpius said in a bored voice.

"You're late," Rufus replied with a glare. "Where's Zabini?"

"Sick," Scorpius replied.

Rufus scowled at Scorpius and began to mutter a few words under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'I bet she is'. "Alright," Rufus said, regaining some of his composure. "Malfoy you can do rounds with Weasley since Potter decided not to show up tonight," Rufus ordered, pointing in Rose's direction. "Also, 5 points from Slytherin for being late."

Rose glowered at Rufus. He would pair her up with Scorpius of all people. Rose watched as the several different pairs of prefects trickled off to do their rounds and Rose turned to look at Scorpius. Scorpius was about to say something but Rose put her hand up to stop him.

"Do not say anything for the next half hour and we will both get through this problem free," Rose snapped. Scorpius just sighed and moved his head towards the hallway they would be heading down for their rounds and they began their silent walk through the deserted dark hallway.

* * *

Rose was worried. What David had told her about the Grenning twin's had made her very uneasy. She was positive that something was off about the twin that had brushed up against him. Sharon Grenning's story about being attacked at King's Cross station and being left unharmed afterwards was no longer sounding as farfetched as it had sounded when Rose had first heard it. Could it have been Darius who had attacked Sharon at King's Cross station? Yes... yes it could have been.

Rose's face scrunched up in thought. But why would he just erase Sharon's memory? It made no sense, especially if there could be a chance that Sharon could start to remember what had happened to her.

So why keep her alive? Why would he have just randomly attacked her for no reason? Unless he got information from her that he wanted and had decided that killing her would be too risky. But what useful information did Sharon Grenning know?

However, there was still the issue of knowing Darius had been in Hogsmeade 5 days ago and Rose's gut feeling was telling her that he had to be on the ground's somewhere by now. Rose didn't even want to consider the idea of him being in the castle. After her rounds she was going to steal Al's Marauder's Map and find out for sure if Darius was hidden in some rarely used broom closet. Then, when she had the right proof, she would go to McGonagall.

That was when Rose heard a clatter from behind her and she quickly pulled out her wand and turned to see what it was. Rose let out a sigh of relief as she watched an orange tabby cat bolt away from a shelf where it had knocked a brass bowl to the floor.

"Jumpy tonight aren't we, Weasley?" Scorpius asked, giving her a funny look.

"What did I say about talking, Malfoy," Rose snapped as she walked forward to pick up the fallen brass bowl, which she neatly put back on its shelf.

Malfoy heaved a heavy sigh before responding. "Don't do it."

"Exactly," Rose replied, turning around to send Scorpius a sweet smile before continuing to walk down the hall, wand still raised out in front of her. It may have been a cat that had knocked that bowl off of the shelf but she was still rather uneasy. The poorly lit area of the castle was also not helping ease her fears.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, Weasley?" Scorpius suddenly asked in an annoyed voice, ignoring the threat she had only given him seconds before.

"What do you mean?" Rose replied distractedly as she quickly turned to look behind them with her wand outstretched.

"What I mean is that we are currently on our prefect rounds and you're acting like we're being hunted by a murdering lunatic," Scorpius said in exasperation.

"Let's hope not," Rose muttered with a shudder.

Unfortunately, Scorpius seemed to have heard what she had said since he had suddenly stopped walking, and when Rose turned to look at him, his eyes were wide in surprise.

"Did you just say 'let's hope not'?" Scorpius asked quickly.

"Yes," Rose admitted, lowering her wand slightly.

"And what do you mean by that?" Scorpius inquired.

Rose just gave Scorpius a meaningful look. It appeared that Nora had told Scorpius about Darius after all. "I think you know exactly what I mean."

Scorpius' eyes widened. "Darius Morzane cannot be inside the castle Weasley. That's bloody impossible."

"Well he got into Hogsmeade pretty easily, so why couldn't he have gotten in here without much opposition," Rose replied angrily.

"He was in Hogsmeade?" Scorpius asked in astonishment. "How do you even know what he looks like?"

Rose scowled. "I did a little research."

"I'm guessing without Nora's permission," Scorpius accused and Rose's scowl grew larger.

"I was curious," Rose said, attempting to defend herself. "And I think we should finish our rounds as quickly as possible," she added as she began to walk away from where they were standing in the hallway to an area near the door to the astronomy tower.

"Oh so you're walking away again," Scorpius taunted from behind her. "You have a habit of doing that when things get a little too scary for you Weasley."

Rose snorted loudly in resentment and turned around to send Malfoy a very dirty look. "Look who's talking Malfoy," she exclaimed loudly. "Aren't you the one who freezes up entirely when someone gets too close?"

Rose knew she had hit a nerve when she saw Scorpius' face quickly change into its normal expressionless mask. Unfortunately for him, Rose had gotten very good at reading Scorpius' emotions just from his eyes and she could tell easily that he was not happy at all. Scorpius suddenly strode quickly forward leaving only a couple inches in between the two of them. Rose's eyes widened at how close he was to her and she physically cringed under how intense his stare was.

"Look who's scared now Weasley," Scorpius said in a low voice.

Rose took a deep breath in and looked Scorpius in the eyes. "I don't know what your problem is Malfoy but I would like it if you backed off. One minute you're acting pleasant around me and the next minute you're flipping out because I pointed out something very obvious about you," Rose replied in a slightly hysterical voice.

"That's just the thing Rose," Scorpius replied, his voiced laced with frustration and Rose's heart seemed to beat faster over the fact that he had just used her first name. "Very few people can make me angry, let alone make me care enough to even become angry in the first place." Scorpius exclaimed angrily and he walked a few steps away from her before he quickly pivoted on his heel to look at her; his face the reflection of a man who was searching for answers. "So tell me Rose," Scorpius asked, gesturing in her direction; his expression wild. "Why is it that you, of all people, can make me want to try harder? Why is it that when you're around I actually want to try and one day be seen as something other than the son of a deatheater. I accepted a long time ago that the world had given up on my family, so why should I give a damn about anyone else. But you just suddenly came along and had to turn my life upside down. So please, before I lose my mind, tell me why that is?"

Rose's mouth opened in an attempt to speak but no words came out. Instead she just stared at Scorpius in disbelief. Scorpius noticed her lack of words and he strode to the place where he had been standing before, once again putting Rose in a position she was not comfortable in. Rose watched as Scorpius lifted both of his hands and then proceeded to cup her face with them; tilting her head up to look at him.

"Rose," Scorpius whispered in a pleading voice.

Rose felt herself beginning to panic when she heard Scorpius' tone. "Scorpius I-", but she was cut short in surprise when all of the torches on the wall's around them suddenly went out.

Scorpius seemed to snap out of whatever thoughts he had been having and he quickly removed his hands from her face, obviously sensing that something was not right. "What the hell?" he whispered anxiously.

Rose stared into the darkness, a cold grip of fear tightening around her insides when she saw movement in the shadows. Rose instinctively went straight for Scorpius, knowing, no matter how horrible the thought was, who was stalking them. Scorpius noticed her fear and he swiftly took one of her shaking hands in his and grasped it tightly, while brandishing his wand with the other.

Before either Rose or Scorpius could say _lumos_, Rose heard a soft hiss of laughter from somewhere in the dark and she turned to look in the direction of where it had come from, her eyes widening in shock at what she was staring at. Before she could warn Scorpius, whose gaze was directed in the opposite direction, Darius had lifted what appeared to be a large silver candle stick and struck him over the side of the head.

Rose watched in horror as Scorpius fell to the floor unconscious; a small amount of blood beginning to stain his pale gold hair.

Rose looked up wide-eyed to see Darius Morzane standing in front of her; a sick smile spread across his pale face.

"Hello again, Rosie," he greeted in a soft but terrifying voice, his charcoal coloured eyes glittering dangerously. Before Rose could even lift her wand to defend herself Darius had lifted his weapon and swiftly struck her over the head; her world going dark instantly.

* * *

Nora bit her lip nervously as she looked at the large grandfather clock in the Gryffindor common room for the third time in 5 minutes.

"She's fine," Al said, not even looking up from his work.

"She's been gone longer than 30 minutes. It's almost been an hour since she left." Nora replied anxiously.

Al sighed and looked up from his work. "She had to get their first."

"It would not take Hallows over 20 minutes to make sure everyone was in order," Nora replied with a frown. "You know that."

"She's fine," Al insisted as he stood up from his seat. He gathered up his things and placed a quick kiss on Nora's worry streaked forehead.

"You don't know that," Nora replied, getting up from her seat and following him up the stairs.

Al yawned tiredly. "I'll tell you what. I will pull out the Marauder's map and we can find out where Rose is and then go find her if you're that worried she's in trouble. After that, I'm following Dave's example and heading to bed."

Nora beamed at Al and gave him a quick kiss to show him her thanks. "Thank you."

"Ya ya," Al said with a wave of his hand but a small smile danced across his lips. "I'll be right back."

It only took Al a couple of minutes to drop off his things in his room and return down to the common room with what appeared to be a folded piece of blank parchment. However, Nora had been informed months ago that the blank piece of paper that was coveted by the Potter family was obviously not just a blank piece of paper.

"The Marauder's map at your service," Al said with a whisper and quickly handed it to Nora. "Let's go into the corner and use it. I don't want any of the first years getting a good look at it."

The couple moved over to one of the slightly isolated corners of the common room and sat down. "What are the words again?" Nora asked. Al gave her a look of offended shock and she shot him a dirty look. "No need to look so damn surprised. I've had other more pressing matters on my mind lately.

"Alright," Al said slowly. "But I'm only letting this slide once." Nora rolled her eyes as Al turned away and watched him pull out his wand and then point it at the piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he whispered and Nora watched as a detailed map of the castle began to slowly fill up the blank piece of parchment; a few different names slowly moving around the page.

"Can you see Rose?" Nora asked anxiously.

"Not yet," Al said, brow furrowed. "It doesn't look like she's patrolling her usual route. Wait-," he paused, his face scrunching up in confusion. "Why is she at the top of the astronomy tower with Malfoy?"

"What?" Nora exclaimed. "Let me see."

Before Al could react, Nora had snatched the map from his hands and was staring as two names floated in place at the top of the astronomy tower. "Huh."

"You don't think-?" Al began.

"No, I actually don't," Nora replied with certainty. "Rose would never agree to go look at the stars with Scorpius and I doubt he would ever ask her to either. It's not really his style."

"Then what are they doing up there?"

"I don't know," Nora said distractedly. "It doesn't look like they're looking for anything since they're both standing still."

"Maybe they're talking. They do have a lot to talk about," Al offered.

"So they decided to climb to the top of the astronomy tower to have a chat," Nora replied unconvinced. "They have several empty hallways they could talk in. No, this doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe their locked in there," Al said distractedly.

"Maybe..." Nora's voice trailed off as she scanned the rest of the map. She didn't like it. It was too weird.

And that was when she saw it.

Nora's eyes widened as a ball of fear fell neatly into the pit of her stomach. Nora watched in shock as the name 'Darius Morzane' moved slowly around the hallways that were near the entrance to the astronomy tower.

He had found her.

"Nora-," Al began his voice worried.

"He's here," Nora whispered in shock.

"Who's here?"

Nora blinked and shook her head, trying to collect her nerves. How the hell had he gotten in the castle? Nora stared at Rose and Scorpius' names.

They still hadn't moved.

A fresh wave of terror swept through Nora's insides and she quickly whipped out her wand. "Mischief managed," she said quickly and the Marauder's map quickly went blank.

"Nora, what's wrong?" Al asked in confusion.

"We have to go find them," Nora said in a panicked voice as she pocketed the Marauder's map.

"What?" Al asked in confusion.

"He's here!" she whispered frantically. Al's eyes widened. He finally understood. Nora grabbed a hold of his hand. "Do you have your wand?" Nora asked quickly, pulling his towards the portrait hole.

"Yes – but –shouldn't we tell someone what we're doing?" Al said frantically.

"No time," Nora replied fearfully. "We have to go now!" Al was about to say something else but Nora pulled him quickly through the now open portrait hole and into the dark hallway.

* * *

Rose let out a pained groan as her eyes slowly cracked open. She stared in confusion at her surroundings while trying to ignore the pain in her head and the fact that she currently had a very tightly tied piece of cloth around her head that was acting as a gag. She blinked her eyes adjusting to the light of the moon streaming through the open windows around her. Wait... she knew where she was. She was in the room at the top of the astronomy tower.

Rose shivered slightly as the cool night air blew into the room through the open windows and she decided that it might be a good idea to get off of her knees. Rose tried to get to her feet only to realize that they were bound tightly with rope. Panic welled up inside her when she realized that her hands were bound behind her back as well.

"Shit," she said in a muffled but panicked voice and she began to struggle with her bonds only to accidently elbow a body next to her.

Rose almost yelped in surprise, fearing that she had just hit Darius, only to realize that Scorpius was tied up next to her; still unconscious with a trail of dried blood streaked the side of his face. Rose decided that their only hope of escaping before Darius got back from doing whatever he was doing was to wake Scorpius up.

Rose awkwardly hobbled closer to Scorpius on her knees, trying desperately not to fall onto her face, and began to nudge him as hard as she could with her side. Unfortunately she began to get a little too carried away with her nudging and with one good shove managed to knock him over onto his side.

This, however, managed to wake Scorpius up because as soon as he hit the floor he let out a loud moan of pain.

"Sorry," she mumbled with a cringe, her voice hampered because of the gag.

Scorpius moaned once again and tried to get to his knees only to realize that he was in no position to be getting up at that moment.

"What the hell!" Scorpius exclaimed his voice much clearer than hers and Rose looked over to see that his gag had not been tied as tightly as hers. Odd, from what Rose had read about Darius, he was supposed to be a genius. The only reason why he was caught for the murder of Nora's friend was because he hadn't tried to cover it up. So, for him to have made the mistake of not tying his gag tight enough must mean, that in the excitement of capturing them, he had slipped up a little. Rose could only pray that Darius made another mistake that night that would result in the two of them escaping.

"Rose?" Scorpius croaked.

"Can't really talk," Rose responded as best she could.

Scorpius strained his neck to look at her and he saw how her gag was tied much tighter then his was. "Fuck," he swore under his breath. "That was Darius who hit me over the head wasn't it?"

Rose nodded her head yes and Scorpius swore again. Rose watched as Scorpius rolled onto his side and moved his bound arms so that he could try and lift himself with his elbow. After several tries Scorpius gave up and lay on the floor panting.

While Rose would never admit it, watching Scorpius try to get up in the oddest ways possible helped get her mind off of the fact that she could be dead within a few hours. For some reason he hadn't thought to just get on his back and lift up his body.

"Where are we?" Scorpius asked breathlessly.

"Astronomy tower," Rose mumbled.

"You have got to be kidding me," Scorpius yelled in frustration. "Of all the places that psycho decided to take us, it was to the top of the bloody astronomy tower."

Rose was frightened. What was Darius planning on doing with them? Was he going to torture them for information? Was he going to keep them hostage? Or was the reason he had brought them up to the top of the astronomy tower because he was going to enjoy throwing them off it later on? No. Rose stop it, you are freaking yourself out. If he was going to throw you off of the astronomy tower he probably would have done it by now. Right now you need to focus on helping Scorpius off of the ground.

"Malfoy," she said slowly, trying to speak as clearly as possibly.

"Ya," he grunted. He was trying to get back up again.

"Stop," she ordered with a roll of her eyes. "Let me help you."

Rose watched as Scorpius yet again fell back to the floor panting. "What?" Scorpius asked, completely out of breath.

"Let me help you," she enunciated as loudly as possible.

"How?"

"Back," Rose said and motioned with her head for him to get off of his side. Luckily Scorpius understood and rolled over onto his back.

Rose breathed a heavy sigh and continued on. "Now lift yourself up," Rose ordered in exasperation.

Luckily for Scorpius, Rose could not tell how much he was blushing as he lifted his body off of the ground. "Thanks," Scorpius muttered tersely. "You couldn't have told me how to get up earlier."

"Mhmm," Rose mumbled. She was definitely not in the right mood to start arguing with him.

"Back to not talking I see," Scorpius snapped angrily and Rose shot him a dirty look. "Whatever," he muttered. "How tight are your bonds?"

"Tight," Rose replied and made a show of trying to get her hands free.

"Could you try and get the rope around your ankles undone?" Scorpius asked.

"Maybe," Rose replied as best she could. "Tied well to."

"The ropes around my wrists aren't as tight," Scorpius said thankfully. "I think, if I move my hands enough, I may be able to get my hands free. And if I can get that far, I can get us out of here before our favourite murdering lunatic gets back."

"Good," Rose said her reply muffled. "I'll try and work on the ropes on my ankles but I'm not giving any promises."

Scorpius gave her a confused look. "I have no idea what you just said."

Rose sighed in exasperation and leaned back slightly so she could try and work on the ropes on her ankles.

"Why do you think he captured us anyway?" Scorpius asked suddenly and Rose looked over at him. "It's not us he wants."

Rose pondered his question only for a moment before the answer popped into her head and she let out a depressed moan, voicing her thoughts.

"What? What is it?" Scorpius said in a panicked voice, moving closer to her. "Are you hurt?"

"Bait," Rose moaned loudly, her heart breaking over how stupid she was for letting Scorpius and herself get caught.

"What?" Scorpius asked slightly mystified.

"We're bait," Rose replied loudly.

Scorpius just stared at her in shock. "We're bait," he repeated in horror.

Rose just nodded her head and Scorpius reacted by using his legs to kick a wooden crate that was in front of him and then letting out a stream of expletives. Rose didn't like seeing Scorpius this upset so she turned her head to hide how terrified she was. She could have told Nora or McGonagall that she had seen Darius in Hogsmeade and prevented everything, but instead she was too ashamed to admit to Nora that she had been snooping in her past. And now she was Darius' prisoner and bait, along with Scorpius, who had had no idea that Darius was anywhere near Hogwarts until maybe 20 minutes ago. Good job Rose, you've really screwed things up this time.

* * *

A/N- Oh dear. Rose and Scorpius are in quite a pickle right now and Darius is on the loose. But I know everyone enjoyed that Rose/Scorpius moment in the middle of the chapter. I love writing scenes with just the two of them. Anyway this was another speedy quick update and I promise to get the next chapter up quickly as well. Please read and review. Thanks :)


	27. A Living Nightmare

Chapter 27 – A Living Nightmare

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, no matter how much I wish he was.

**A/N- This chapter is mainly why my story is rated Mature, so if you don't like violence and senstive issues, do not read this chapter. **

* * *

"Nora, slow down!" Al called out. "We have to make some sort of plan."

Nora ignored him and continued to half run, half jog, down the deserted hallways.

"Nora!" Al cried. "We should go find one of the professors. There are bound to be a couple starting their rounds right about now. We have to go back and tell them what's going on."

Nora stopped and whirled around, her eyes wild. "I'm not turning back because I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to Rose or Scorpius. Darius is a murdering sociopath who wouldn't feel any remorse if he just offed either one of them for fun. So, if you want to go find a professor in this giant bloody castle, then be my guest," Rose yelled.

Al stared at her for a second before giving in. "You know I would never leave you alone. Even if you're might be able to kill Morzane just by looking at him."

Nora gave Al a grateful look and they continued running through the hallways towards the astronomy tower.

"Nora," Al panted from behind her after they had been running for only a few minutes. "I'm not going to tell you that we need to go get one of the professors again but we should at least think up some sort of plan. I can honestly say that it is never a good idea to go rushing into situations where there are mad murderers involved."

Nora stopped suddenly and turned to look at Al, who had to skid to halt in order to avoid crashing into her. Nora peered around her, realizing that the area of the hallway they were standing was so dark that Nora could not see much more than 10 feet in front of her. "You're right," she whispered. "We're not that far from the door to the astronomy tower and I know Darius is around here somewhere."

"Why the hell is it so dark around here?" Al peered around them. "Shouldn't the torches be lit?"

"They should," Nora replied warily, pulling out her wand. She looked over at Al. "You should get out your wand."

"Good idea," Al replied. Al pulled his wand from his pocket and held it out in front of him. "_Lumos_," he whispered and the end of his wand lit up like a flashlight.

Nora stared around the hallway; her body tense. "It's too quiet," she said in a hushed voice and began to walk forward.

"Ya," Al said anxiously and he began to follow her slowly down the hall. "You see anything?"

Nora walked forward a bit more; her eyes scanning the hallway for any sign of movement. In the process of examining the hallway, her eyes managed to catch something that made Nora's stomach lurch. "Oh no," she whispered and she rushed forward and crouched down to inspect the floor.

"What is it?" Al asked. Nora didn't answer. She just stared down at the dark red smear on the floor. Blood.

"Nora?" Al asked worriedly. "What is it?"

Nora swallowed her panic. "It's blood. But it isn't enough for anyone to be...," Nora trailed off when she saw the frenzied look on Al's face. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Alright where is that bastard?" Al growled. "If that's Rose's blood I swear I'm going to tear him limb from limb."

Nora heard a faint scraping noise and her hand went up in warning. "Al calm down," Nora insisted.

"Why would he take Rose and Scorpius anyway?" Al questioned angrily. "It doesn't make any sense."

Nora's brow furrowed in thought as her ears strained to hear where the noise had come from. Why would Darius have taken them? Surely he hadn't mistaken either of them for her. But that wasn't Nora's biggest question. How long had Darius been in the castle? It wasn't like Darius to go rushing into things. He always planned ahead.

And that was when it hit her.

"It's a trap," Nora whispered in horror.

"What did you say?" Al asked.

That was when Nora heard the soft sound of quick footsteps coming directly from behind Al. "Al!" Nora cried out and Al whipped his head around only to be surprised by Darius.

"_Stupefy_," Darius cried out and Nora watched as Al fell to the floor unconscious, his head hitting the floor with a bang. Rage quickly began to fill the pit of Nora's stomach and she lifted her wand in time to block another spell coming from Darius.

"_Protego_," she yelled. Darius' spell bounced off of her shield and she continued to leave her wand pointed at Darius.

Darius let out a loud laugh and Nora stared at him; her face a mix of fear and rage. "I should have known you'd be harder to take down then any of your little friends," Darius said in his silky smooth voice. "It's one of the things I love about you. You're not someone who can be easily defeated."

"Tell me," Nora spat. "Why I shouldn't kill you right now." Darius laughed again and he walked towards where Al lay stunned. "Don't you dare touch him," Nora said in panicked voice.

"Or what, Nora?" Darius said with a sick smile and he casually pointed his wand towards Al's body. "You'll kill me. We both know that; even though everyone thinks you can, you'd never actually do it."

"Are you sure about that," Nora replied, hate dripping from her every word. He was exactly the way he had been when he had gone to prison a year ago. Arrogant and completely delusional. He had definitely lost weight and his usually pale skin looked sickly and grey, causing his cheek bones to become more pronounced, which had taken away from his usually charming looks but on the inside he was still the same murdering piece of scum.

"Alright Nora. I'll play along. Kill me," Darius said lowering his wand to his side, leaving himself completely undefended. "I dare you," he taunted.

Nora stared wide-eyed at him. Do it you idiot. Finish him off before he does something to Al! But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't will herself to say the two words that would result in her never having to see him ever again. Nora began to shake and she let out an angry cry of frustration.

"That's what I thought," Darius muttered and before Nora could pull herself together, Darius was pointing his wand at her.

"_Incarcerous_," he yelled and Nora watched in shock as ropes wrapped themselves around her ankles and wrists and a gag was tied securely around her head; her wand clattering to the ground. You can get out of this. Just concentrate.

"Oh no you don't darling," Darius called out and Nora looked over to see Darius pointing his wand at Al's unconscious form. "I know exactly what you can do and if you even think about doing what I think you're about to do, its bye bye boyfriend."

Nora stared at Darius in shock as he stooped down to pick up Al's wand with his left hand and proceeded to point it at her. Nora watched as Darius flicked the wand in his right hand and Al began to rise from the ground, floating beside him. Darius' eyes flicked to look at Nora, who was struggling to get out of her bonds. "Yes," he said slowly. "I do know about your unfaithfulness, Nora. I've been watching you and let me tell you, when I found out, I was not very pleased. But, I'm here now to try and prove to you that we're meant for one another." Nora watched in horror, a stray tear falling from her eye, as Darius pointed Al's wand directly at her head. "Even if it means getting rid of Potter and your little friends upstairs to try and convince you."

Nora stared at Darius in alarm as he flicked his wand in her direction.

"_Stupefy._"

* * *

Nora awoke to the sound of shouting.

"You're bloody mad!" A familiar voice shouted. "You're crazier than I thought you were if you think Nora has any sort of loving feelings for you."

"Scorp?" Nora croaked as her eyes fluttered open to take in the scene around her.

"Nora!" Rose cried out. Nora blinked and looked in the direction the voices were coming from. A few feet away from her Rose and Scorpius were tied up beside each other, pieces of cloth that had been acting as gags now hanging loosely around their necks. But where was Al?

Nora's eyes widened in panic and she frantically looked around her to see Al, still unconscious, on the opposite side of the room.

"I'm so glad you could finally join us, Nora," a smooth voice greeted and Nora whipped her head around to see Darius leaning against a wall; partially hidden in the shadows.

Nora tried to make a snappy retort only to find that her gag was still firmly tied around her head. Darius stepped out of the shadows. "I think we can take that gag out now. No one is going to hear you three up here. I've made sure of that."

Nora watched Darius lift his wand with a flick and the gag around her head loosened, allowing her to spit it out. Nora opened her mouth to speak but Darius just made a tut-tut noise and pointed his wand at Al. "If you try to escape, attack me, help them escape or do anything suspicious... he's dead. Understand," Darius said in a deadly serious voice. Nora gave him a look of pure hate and nodded her head.

"Lovely," Darius said with a smile. "You decided to join us at a wonderful time, Nora. Scorpius, Rose and I were just discussing you and Scorpius here seems to think that you no longer have any good feelings towards me."

"He's right," Nora responded savagely. Darius' smile didn't waver.

"Now that's not very nice," Darius said with a shake of his head. "What must your friends think?"

"I really don't mind," Rose said icily. Her vivid blue eyes flashing and Darius' pleased expression seemed to falter slightly; his eyes narrowing in Rose's direction. Rose had yet to realize that only Nora could talk to him that way.

"How did you get inside Hogwarts?" Nora blurted out, instantly grabbing Darius' attention.

"I'm glad you asked that darling," Darius replied. "I knew you would be interested in how I got here. You were always able to appreciate how clever I was."

"And modest," Rose muttered darkly and Nora shot her a warning look.

Darius seemed to have not heard what Rose had said or he had ignored it and he began his story. "After I escaped from that god forsaken prison, I managed to get on the supply boat that came to the island sometimes to give supplies to this muggle research station on the island and it took me back to the mainland. But I'm sure you've already heard this part from your father," Darius said with a smile. "How is he by the way?"

Nora gave him a dangerous look.

Darius chuckled. "Still the same as always I see." He turned to look at Rose and Scorpius. "Nora would tell me all the time last year about how much of an ass her father was. She was always able to pretend to be fine in front of others but I knew how much he hurt her with his neglect," he said angrily, smile disappearing, and Nora watched him grip his wand so tightly that she heard a few of his joints make small cracking noises. "I almost went after him first," he admitted. "But I couldn't do that without seeing Nora first." Nora, even with Darius being a few feet away from her, could see the sinister glint in his eyes; something she knew she shouldn't ignore.

"The story, Darius," Nora said quickly and Darius seemed to snap out of whatever violent thoughts he was having.

"Oh yes." He blinked. "Now where was I?" He paused for a second before he remembered what he was talking about. "Oh, I remember now," Darius rambled on and started his story where he had left off. "As soon as I got back to the mainland, I instantly found a place to stay for the night." Nora began to tune out what Darius was saying and she began to look around at her surroundings. She had quickly figured out that they were at the top of the astronomy tower and with the way she was currently tied, she wouldn't be getting out of these bonds anytime soon without magic. Nora's gaze fell on Al who was still lying on the ground unconscious. Why hadn't he woken up yet? He had only been stunned just like her so he should have woken up by now. She suddenly remembered him hitting his head off of the hallway floor and she cursed Darius in her head. Al hadn't just been stunned.

"...And there I secretly boarded a freighter that was headed directly for England," Darius prattled on; completely unaware that Nora had not been listening. Darius turned to look at her and Nora gave him her full attention. "You should have seen the things your father was saying in the papers, Nora. He honestly thought he could catch me. The idiot barely ever sent any search parties into the muggle world to actually look for me. Did he really think that I would travel through wizarding areas when everyone was looking for me and knew what I looked like?" Nora's face darkened at the news and Darius noticed. "But you told him that that was probably going to be my plan. You always knew me so well," he said voice turning tender and Nora's insides began to churn in revulsion

Darius walked closer to Nora and began to reach his hand out to touch her face, which she tried to inch away from as casually as possible, when Scorpius and Rose saved her.

"So what did you do once you arrived here in England?" Rose questioned suddenly.

"Ya, I'm really interested to know how you found Hogwarts," Scorpius said with fake curiosity.

Darius sent them both dark looks but Scorpius and Rose managed to play to his ego and he pulled his hand back to his side and walked back to the center of the room. Nora let out a sigh of relief and shot her friends a look of thanks. They both nodded back and Rose mouthed 'you're welcome' when Darius wasn't looking.

"I had to do a bit of research," Darius began. "I knew that I needed a plan if I was ever going to get inside this place. So, I began to stake out locations in London that I heard about from the wizarding tourist books that I had stolen back in Canada. One place I frequented the most was the Leaky Cauldron. That was where I learned that there was an entrance to Diagon Alley in the back of the pub and that to get to the Hogwarts Express, one needed to go through platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross station. I instantly remembered what that platform was from the books I had read about your boyfriend's daddy's adventures," Darius said with a very unpleasant look directed at Al. "That was when I convinced a man to let me into Diagon Alley. I pretended I had forgotten the way to get through the wall after I was told by the bartender and do you want to know what he did," Darius said with a laugh and Nora watched as Scorpius gave him a disgusted look. Darius continued. "He gave me a huge friendly smile and said 'don't worry mate. My friend Johnny always forgets the way in.' I couldn't believe my luck. I was able to walk around Diagon Alley, with just my hood up, and have a nice day filled with sight-seeing." Darius turned to look at Rose. "I even went inside your families joke shop," he informed her and Rose's eyes widened. "And I met your aunt Angelina who was working there while I was in Diagon Alley. She's a wonderful woman and if I had known how close you were to Nora," he breathed and walked closer to Rose causing her to inch away from him. "I might have asked her a few more questions about her family and maybe gotten to know her a little better."

"You sick bastard," Scorpius raged next to Darius and before Nora could tell Darius not to, he had swiftly punched Scorpius so hard in the face that Scorpius fell onto his side from the impact.

"You will not interrupt me when I'm speaking Malfoy," Darius hissed as Scorpius pulled himself back upright, the side of his face bright red from where Darius' fist had struck him. "Do you think I have no idea who you are? You're the son of a pure blood deatheater and probably a pureblood yourself. You may think you're better than everyone else, but in my books, you're scum."

"Leave him alone," Rose said loudly. "You don't know anything about him."

Both Scorpius and Nora looked at Rose in surprise. Had Rose just defended Scorpius?

"What did you say?" Darius asked with a frenzied look in his eyes that Nora knew was not a good sign.

"Rose don't say anything," Nora pleaded in fear. She needed to get out of these stupid ropes but she couldn't look like she was concentrating in the process.

Rose did not listen to her. "I said," Rose began slowly. "Leave him alone because compared to him... you're trash."

Darius had back-handed Rose so quickly that Nora had barely even seen it. However, he wasn't finished with her. Darius grabbed a hold of Rose's hair and yanked her down so hard that her face smacked off of the stone floor.

"You son of a bitch!" Scorpius roared as he stared at Rose who was attempting to get back up in a sitting position. "Why don't you untie me and we'll see if you can beat on me as easily as you do a girl who's unable to defend herself properly!"

Darius gave Scorpius a wild look and Nora watched in horror as he kicked Rose in the stomach in response to Scorpius' words. Rose let out a loud scream of pain and the terrified look on Scorpius' face made Nora's heart break.

"Stop it," Nora said hysterically and without realizing what she was doing, her mind had grabbed a hold of Darius' body and then proceeded to throw him across the room where he hit the wall and fell into a heap onto the floor; moaning in pain.

Nora stared in shock over what she had done. Her eyes flicked over to see Rose roll onto her back; visibly in pain as she lifted herself up. She appeared to be having trouble breathing and Nora suspected that Darius may have broken a couple of her ribs when he had kicked her.

"Nora, Nora, Nora," Darius mumbled in disappointment and Nora turned her head to watch him get off of the floor. "You should not have done that." His eyes darted towards Al's unconscious body and Nora's stomach squirmed with fear.

"Don't you dare," Nora warned.

Darius pulled out his wand and with a flick Al was floating a few inches above the ground. "Or what Nora," Darius said with a maniacal laugh. "You'll kill me. We've gone over this. You just don't have the stomach to do it."

Nora stared at Al's floating body anxiously. "Put him down."

"I will when I'm ready," Darius said in a heated voice. "Right now, I'd like to finish telling you how I got here in the first place."

Nora looked at Rose worriedly only to see Scorpius whispering to her. The relief on his face melted Nora's heart. While Nora had no idea what he was saying to her, the look on his face confirmed that he really did love her.

Darius turned to look at Nora. "So, now that I had my plan all lined up nicely, I decided to put my plan into action and the day before you were expected to come home I robbed this quaint little potion's shop in Diagon Alley in the middle of the night in order to steal a certain potion I needed. "

"That was you?" Rose exclaimed in surprise. "I read about that on the train home at the beginning of Easter break."

"You're quite the detective Weasley," Darius said and gave her an annoyed look. Rose winced slightly and looked away from him.

"You see I had learned from the owner of the potion's shop, that his wife liked to have certain potion's readymade in case they were ever needed by the Ministry or by themselves. So when I robbed the store, I stole a few of the potions along with a few miscellaneous ingredients so that no one would know exactly which of the things I had stolen was my main target."

"So what did you really want?" Scorpius asked heatedly.

"Polyjuice potion," Darius said with a pleased look and Rose gasped loudly in realization.

"You did attack Sharon!" she exclaimed in horror, wincing as she spoke. "You attacked her to get her hair in order to mix it with the Polyjuice potion you had already stolen."

"She was telling the truth?" Nora questioned in shock. "But that would mean..."

"That would mean I was at King's Cross station when the Hogwarts Express had arrived. Yes...yes, I was there," Darius said in a low voice his nose turning up as if he had just smelled something foul. "And that was where I learned that you were with him, Nora," Darius said in outrage and he moved his wand so that Al soared through the air and into the middle of the room. "You couldn't imagine how much I wanted to kill him right then and there," Darius said, looking at Nora in a way that made her want to be sick. "But I controlled myself because I knew I was going to have to find a way to get into Hogwarts in order to get you back. And that was when those twin's popped out of the barrier. It was almost like some higher power had answered had sent me the two of them as a gift and I would have been a fool to pass it up."

"So you attacked her in the bathroom and then modified her memory so that she wouldn't remember what had happened," Nora said in a hollow voice.

"Correct," Darius said. "I couldn't kill her because you're all used to seeing two of these girls, but it wouldn't have looked odd if someone only saw one of them strolling through the hallways. If I had killed her, I would have had a much smaller chance of fitting in with one of them gone."

"Then what did you do?" Nora asked.

"I quickly got all my things together over the Easter break and when it was time for you all to go back to Hogwarts, I put a disillusionment charm on my things and myself and slipped through the barrier to Platform 9 3/4, where I followed the Hogwarts Express on a broom I had stolen the night before, to Hogsmeade, where I hid out in the hills plotting the ideal time to venture my way on to the grounds of your lovely school," Darius explained.

"So, when we were in Hogsmeade a few days ago all you had to do was take the Polyjuice potion with Susan's hairs in it and you were able to enter Hogwarts completely undetected because you looked exactly like a student and since no one was wearing their robes you could have worn any clothes you wanted," Nora said, finishing the rest of his story.

"Exactly," Darius said with a smile. "I've been hiding out in the forest for the past few days and slipping into the castle at night to look around, which was when I found out that prefects make rounds of the school at night and much to my surprise, it turned out that little Rosie over here and this one," Darius said pointing to Rose and then Al, "had a certain route that they took on their rounds, which always led them past this astronomy tower."

"Which is why you picked this place to keep us prisoner," Nora began. "It's right on top of Al and Rose's regular route and it's very easy to keep people prisoner up here since it's so out of the way. Not to mention it's very easy to put a spell or two on the door to make sure it stays locked and that no sound ever gets through."

Darius laughed out loud. "You're all very smart. I was a bit disappointed at first that I was only able to capture the pretty little Rose over here since, for some reason, he," Darius pointed at Al's floating body, "was not on rounds with his cousin. So, I just sat back and listened to the very entertaining conversation the two of them were having and decided that it would be a good idea to take the both of them anyway as the bait for my trap, which Nora - who is always thinking of others - took hook, line and sinker and brought Potter along with her for the ride. I couldn't imagine how great my luck was," Darius said gleefully. "And now here we are. And to think, I was afraid that my entire plan would all fall to pieces because little Rosie would tell someone I was here."

Nora 's head snapped up in surprise and she stared at Darius in confusion. "What?"

"Little Rosie over there," Darius said, gesturing towards Rose, the look on her face reminding Nora of a deer caught in a cars headlights, "knew I was here for a grand total of 5 days."

Nora stared at Rose in confusion. "How did she..?"

"How did she know I was here?" Darius finished. "Easy. She saw me the day that you were all in Hogsmeade."

Nora stared at Rose in confusion, torment lining her face.

"Now I have no idea how she knew what I looked like," Darius admitted. "But I was very surprised when I saw her staring at me with that adorable look of fear and I knew then that she knew exactly who I was. However, I'm sensing from the look on your face, Nora, that you've never shown her a picture of me. And if I remember you correctly, you probably never told her I actually existed."

"You're lying," Nora spat venomously but she wasn't quite sure if she believed what she was saying or not.

"Am I?" Darius said with a laugh. "What do you think Rosie?"

"He isn't," Rose said in a miserable voice. "I was curious as to what was going on, so I convinced Teddy to send me stuff about your past because I thought I could help you if I knew more. That was when I found out Darius existed." Rose paused slightly before continuing. "And figured out why you had been expelled."

Nora stared at her friend in shock. "How long have you known about this?" Rose asked in a shaky voice.

"Since the end of February," Rose said in a depressed voice and looked over at Nora. Nora just stared at her wide-eyed. Rose had gone digging in her past. How could she have done that? What gave her the right to go snooping around in her business? Nora's fists clenched and she took a deep breath in to calm herself down.

"My father made sure that no one figured out that I had been expelled. So how did you?" Nora asked in a heated voice.

"I guessed," Rose replied calmly. "You told me you'd been expelled and the article in the paper said that your father had removed you from the school for health reasons after the explosion. So I just guessed that you had caused it."

"What else have you 'guessed' about?" Nora asked irritably.

"Other things," Rose said cryptically looking at Darius. Nora understood. Rose had guessed that she was telepathic and by the looks of things she also had guessed correctly that Darius had no idea that her powers had evolved since the last time he had seen her.

"What 'other things'?" Darius snapped.

Nora ignored him and continued asking Rose questions. "Why didn't you tell me Darius was here?" Nora asked calmly.

Rose sighed and then flinched in pain. "Because I didn't know what I would say. I couldn't just walk up to you and say 'by the way Nora, while I was snooping around in your past I found out that your ex murdered your best friend and I'm pretty sure I saw him in Hogsmeade the other day, thought you should know.' I knew you'd be upset about it but I really did try and help. I asked Teddy to try and bump up security and get Darius' face in the papers but he couldn't do it. And I was even planning on stealing the Marauder's map tonight and seeing if he was anywhere in the castle and, if he was I would have told someone, but I honestly didn't think he could get into the castle as easily as he did," Rose explained anxiously.

Nora looked over at Scorpius who did not look surprised by the news. "I'm guessing you knew about this?"

"Hey," Scorpius began. "I just found out that he was in Hogsmeade moments before he hit me over the head. I already know everything about what happened to you last year."

"What?" Darius suddenly exclaimed after being silent for so long. "Why would he know about what happened last year?"

"Because I told him," Nora admitted loudly. "And I told Al as well. You don't know me as well as you think you do, Darius."

Darius began to shake slightly at the news. "Why would you tell him?" Darius snarled as he shook the hand that was holding his wand causing Al to shake slightly in the air.

"That's right," Scorpius said with his signature condescending smirk. "You wouldn't know what happened after you were arrested because Nora's dad kept it so hushed up. It must be eating you up on the inside that you don't know everything about the girl you love."

"Shut up," Darius muttered, body shaking.

"Scorpius," Rose said in a warning voice.

Scorpius ignored her. "I bet that probably makes you think that she doesn't love you as much as she loves Potter. Hell, she loves me more then she loves you and I'm only her friend. I would go bloody mad if I the woman I loved was keeping secrets from me," Scorpius hissed.

"Stop it Scorpius," Nora said in a hushed voice. "You're making him angry." But Nora knew Scorpius was going to ignore her. He was furious and she could now tell just by looking at his eyes. She had forgotten how good Scorpius was at hiding his emotions. Damn it! She should have known how angry he would have been over Darius attacking Rose like that.

"Then again you're nothing like me. If I wanted to find out what the girl I loved was thinking I'd just ask her... but you're different. You're too weak to just ask a girl what's going on," Scorpius sneered. "You have to capture that girl's friends and beat on girl's that are tied up and threaten to kill that girl's unconscious friend. Both of whom can't even defend themselves. You want to know what my daddy, the pureblood, calls people like you." Scorpius paused, the look on his face reminiscent of a look Nora had seen on his grandfather. "He calls people like you impotent little mudbloods."

"Scorpius!" Nora cried out in alarm when she saw Darius stop shaking and his wand snap up to point at him.

Scorpius looked slightly shocked to see a wand pointing at him, since he himself had been completely taken over by the rage he felt towards Darius.

"_Confringo!_" Darius screamed and Nora stared in horror as Rose shoved Scorpius over onto his side, only to put herself directly in front of the stream of light that had erupted from Darius' wand, knocking her backwards into the stone wall behind her where her head smacked into the wall with a loud sickening crack.

"Rose!" Scorpius yelled hysterically as Rose fell to the floor in an unconscious heap and he began to frantically try to get the ropes off of his wrists. Nora watched as Darius pointed his wand at Al yet again and lifted his body from the floor, which had dropped when Darius had broken the spell to try and curse Scorpius. Nora stared at Darius with dread. The look in his eyes was no longer one of sick amusement but of someone who had completely lost it.

"I'm going to get rid of all the obstacles in our way, Nora," Darius said frantically as he lifted Al in the air. "All of these people are trying to keep us apart."

"No," Nora said, tears streaming down her face while Scorpius muttered obscenities as he tried to get out of the ropes around his wrists and his ankles. "You don't need to do this, Darius."

"Yes I do," Darius said nodding his head vigorously and he moved Al's floating body towards the large unblocked opening of the astronomy tower. "Once I get rid of these people we can be together. They don't think that you love me but you do. I can tell. I can tell," Darius repeated, looking at Al hungrily as he floated him closer to the open area of the room.

"I don't," Nora pleaded, through tear filled eyes , unable to concentrate on saving Al because she was far too emotional to do so. Nora remembered sitting with Al under the large tree by the lake as she stared at his unconscious body floating towards the edge of the astronomy tower. The memory had only been from a week ago and they had been laughing about how Andy had fallen on his ass that morning at breakfast after slipping on a banana peel. Al had then proceeded to suddenly tell her that he loved her. At that moment she would have given away her life just to live that moment one more time. And in that moment she wouldn't blush like an idiot after he had said that. Instead she would say that she loved him as well and nothing was ever going to change that. "I don't love you," Nora whispered. "I love Al."

Nora was snapped from her thoughts when Al's body fell to the floor near the fenceless opening of the astronomy tower with a thump, causing a small groan to escape his lips and he twitched slightly . Why had Darius dropped him? Nora looked around the room to see that Darius was clutching his head in confusion and muttering things under his breath.

"These aren't my thoughts," Darius muttered while tugging on his hair. "These aren't my thoughts. Get away from Nora, Potter. You don't get to say you love her."

Nora stared in shock as Darius stumbled around the room clutching his head. Was he talking about the memory that Nora had just been thinking about? Her eyes flitted towards Scorpius only to find that he had somehow managed to get the knots around his ankles practically undone.

Darius seemed to be regaining his composure as Nora remembered a conversation she had once had with Scorpius about her telepathy.

_"So you can read minds," Scorpius said, as if asking for direct confirmation._

_"Yes," Nora replied with a nod._

_"And you're guessing now, that what you did to those kids back at your old school was some kind of telepathic energy wave."_

_"I guess," Nora said. "I'm not sure exactly."_

_"Well you haven't had much practice with the telepathy thing I'm assuming," Scorpius said as he flipped the page of the book he was studying from._

_"You're right," Nora replied. "I have theories about what I could do but in the muggle world people are only telepathic in movies and TV shows."_

_"Well you're real," Scorpius said with a laugh. "What could these made up characters do?"_

_"They could locate other people like them, they could communicate with other people just by putting their thoughts in other people's head, they could block people's memories, they could make people think that things were there when they weren't and they could put their memories into other people's heads."_

Nora's eyes widened in shock and she looked over at Darius to see him raise his wand to point at Al. Nora's gaze hardened.

"Don't you dare," Nora warned as she pulled a memory of a very passionate moment between Al and her to the front of her mind.

"You wouldn't kill me, Nora," Darius muttered more to himself then to her. "You love me."

"But I would gladly hurt you," Nora muttered and she concentrated on putting her memory into Darius' head.

Darius cried out in surprise and dropped his wand, hands flying up to his head. "What's happening to me," he bellowed and began to stumble around the room in confusion.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me Darius," Nora said loudly. "One of those things is that my abilities have evolved. I can use more than telekinesis these days."

Darius' eyes widened and Nora shot another memory of Al and her together into his head. Darius stumbled, tears streaming down his face. Nora looked over at Scorpius to see him almost free of the ropes around his wrists and Nora began to untie the rope around her ankles using telekinesis.

"Are you almost free, Scorp?" Nora called out as she stared down at the ropes that were slowly untying themselves from around her ankles.

"I'm out!" Scorpius yelled in triumph. "Now Darius it's – Nora!"

Nora's head shot up to watch in horror as Darius stumbled backwards towards the open astronomy window that had no fence. Scorpius and Nora watched in shock as one of Darius feet stepped off the edge of the astronomy tower and he pitched backwards out the opening, eyes wide in shock.

"Scorpius!" Nora shrieked as she hastily kicked the ropes from her ankles and got to her feet to fumble with the ropes around her wrists. Scorpius bolted forward to the window to grab Darius before he fell but he was much too late.

Darius let out a horrified scream as he fell from the astronomy tower window and out of Nora's sight. Nora watched, completely frozen as Scorpius slumped down onto this knees staring out of the window; his eyes cast downward.

Nora listened as Darius' terrified shouts quickly became harder to hear and then, with a soft thump from somewhere down below, she could no longer hear them.

* * *

A/N- OMG! Now this was quite the chapter to write. Very difficult indeed. I'm also going to clarify something right now as well. Darius is dead. No one, not even a wizard, can survive a 100 foot drop to the ground, so he will definitely not be making anymore appearance. Anyway, please read and review because I would love to know what everyone thinks. Only 3 more chapters to go!:)


	28. The Fallout

Chapter 28- The Fallout

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine, he belongs to J.K. Rowling

* * *

Nora had no idea how long she was standing there just staring out the opening that Darius had just fallen from. It had probably only been a few seconds, but to her, those seconds had felt like they had dragged on for an eternity.

"Scorpius?" Nora questioned hesitantly. He also hadn't moved from his spot at the edge of the opening; his gaze still fixed downward.

"He's gone," Scorpius replied automatically.

"Did you watch-?" Nora asked in alarm but the question died on her lips when she saw the stunned look on Scorpius' face.

"I'm fine," Scorpius said when he saw the look of pity she was giving him. "We need to get Potter and Rose to the hospital wing and tell the professors that they might want to get rid of Darius before everyone gets up." Nora watched as Scorpius walked by Al, who seemed to be beginning to wake up, and stride towards where Rose lay in a crumpled heap on the other side of the room.

Nora took a deep breath and walked quickly towards Al, trying in vain to keep her eyes from looking down at the base of the astronomy tower. She had no idea if she would be able to see anything but she wasn't about to prove that theory. Nora shook her head to try and clear her thoughts and refocused her attentions on Al.

"Al?" Nora questioned in a hushed voice. "Are you okay?"

Al moaned in response and his hand went up to clutch his head. "What's going on?" he replied hazily.

Nora's heart leapt in her throat and she practically tackled Al with a bear hug. "I'm so glad you're alright!" she exclaimed, starting to tear up again. "You have no idea how terrified I was."

"Nora. Quit smothering him and tell him what's going on," Scorpius barked, his voice laced with worry as he carefully lifted Rose from the floor. Nora gasped slightly when she saw what looked like blood mixed with the hair on the back of Rose's head.

Al's eyes widened when he saw the state his cousin was in and he scrambled to his feet, only to begin to sway on the spot. Nora braced him as he began to fall sideways. "Ugh! M-my head!" he slurred. "What happened to Rose?"

"Darius attacked her," Nora said in a low voice. If Nora had to guess, Al had quite the concussion from hitting his head off of the floor when he was stunned.

"Darius attacked her!" Al exclaimed, his eyes wild. "Where is he?"

"He's dead," Scorpius replied in detached voice as he approached them, carrying Rose in his arms. Al just stared wide eyed at Nora and she ignored him for the time being. There would be plenty of time to explain things later.

"Scorpius, I can just levitate her myself," Nora offered cautiously when she saw Scorpius adjusting the way Rose was positioned in his arm.

"No," he snapped in a pained voice. "I'm fine."

Nora scowled at him. Brilliant. He blamed himself for the condition Rose was in, which meant he was going to be in a horrible mood for days.

"We should get going," Nora said as she took one of Al's arms and slung it around her neck. "We need to get Al and Rose out of here," Nora suggested looking at Scorpius. "And by the looks of that cut on your head, you probably need to be looked at by Madam Penny just as much as they do."

Scorpius frowned at her. "Again, I'm fine. Let's just go and find a professor."

* * *

It hadn't taken them long before they had run into one of the professor's on duty that night. Nora would have laughed at the expression Stone had worn when he had first seen the four of them, if it wasn't for the severity of the situation.

"What the bloody hell are you four doing?" Stone exclaimed; all the formalities of being a Hogwarts professor thrown to the wind in an instant.

Scorpius ignored him. "We need to get Rose and Potter to the hospital wing right now professor."

Stone's eyes seemed to widen to the size of saucers when he finally noticed how bad Rose looked. "What happened?" he snapped as he strode towards Scorpius to survey Rose.

"Darius Morzane happened," Nora replied frostily. "We've recently just escaped from being his prisoner's."

Stone stared wordlessly at Nora. "Take Weasley and Potter to the hospital wing right away and stay there," Stone ordered. "Where did Morzane go? I need to inform the auror's of his escape."

"He won't be escaping anytime soon," Al said in a dazed voice and Stone stared at him.

"What do you mean by that, Potter?" Stone said quickly but Nora could tell by the look in the older man's eyes that he knew exactly what Al had meant.

"Professor," Scorpius said in a low voice. "You'll find Darius at the base of the astronomy tower. It may be in everyone's best interest if you moved him somewhere where no one will find him."  
Stone's eyes flicked in Nora's direction, obviously looking for her reaction to the news, and Nora turned her head and pretended like she was readjusting how to best keep Al elevated.

"Alright," Stone replied, voice wavering slightly. "Get to the hospital wing immediately and do not move. I will inform the headmistress of what has happened."

Stone quickly pulled out his wand and with a couple mumbled words a silver luminescent fox popped from his wand and scurried off in the direction of the headmistress' office. Stone gave them a quick nod before he ran off in the opposite direction of his patronus and towards where Darius' body was located.

"Come on, Nora," Scorpius said. "We need to get to the hospital wing."

Nora nodded in his direction and quickly readjusted Al's arm around her neck and they continued their trek through the hallways.

* * *

Madam Penny nearly suffered a heart attack at the sight of the four of them when they stumbled into the hospital wing. However, after she had gotten over her shock, she immediately began to order both Nora and Scorpius to put Al and Rose on separate beds so that she could have a look at them.

Penny had immediately come to the conclusion that Al was suffering from a concussion and she quickly gave him a potion that would insure he would not fall asleep while she assessed what was wrong with Rose. Nora collapsed into a chair beside Al's bed, emotionally and physically exhausted. She would have given her left arm to be able to go crawl into one of the beds in the hospital wing and fall asleep but she knew the night was far from over.

Penny was mumbling inaudible words as she looked at Rose's head. "How did her head get this way?" Penny barked as she lifted Rose's head gently off of the pillow it was resting on. Nora cringed at the smears of blood that now stained the white pillow. Scorpius, who had been hovering close to Rose ever since he had put her down, answered Penny's question. "She was hit by a blasting curse, which knocked her back into a wall." Penny took a sharp intake of breath at the news and began to unbutton the blouse Rose was wearing.

Scorpius quickly averted his gaze and Al began to stare up at the ceiling as if the cobwebs that clung to the rafters above them were suddenly very interesting. Nora gasped when she saw the huge angry purple bruise that had spread across Rose's side. Penny moved Rose's shirt aside a bit more to reveal another bruise beginning to form above her right breast. Penny began to prod lightly on the bruises and their surrounding area, which generated a soft pained moan from Rose.

"She has a few broken ribs," Penny announced gravely. "I believe one is from where she was hit by the blasting curse but the others were not formed by magic."

Scorpius visibly bristled and Nora could only guess that he was recalling the memory of Darius kicking Rose in the side. "Is she going to be alright?" Nora asked.

"It's quite easy for me to repair broken bones and luckily her skull does not appear to be cracked, but she is going to be quite sore for awhile and I suspect she is going to have one very bad migraine when she wakes up," Penny replied gravely.

"Nora," Al whispered. "What the hell happened up there?"

Nora sighed and massaged her head. "A lot of things happened Al. Darius started to lose it, Scorpius was furious over Darius assaulting Rose and then all hell broke loose. I'm still kind of in shock over the fact that Darius is actually dead, so can we please talk about this later. I have a feeling the professors are going to pull the story out of Scorpius and me as soon as they get here anyway," Nora replied.

Al's eyes flicked over to look at Rose and Nora's eyes followed. Penny now had her wand out and was muttering incantations, while pointing her wand at Rose's chest, which Nora had to guess, was her way of mending Rose's ribs. Scorpius was pacing back and forth only a few feet away; his face streaked with worry.

"Mr. Malfoy," Penny muttered distractedly as she guided her wand over Rose's chest. "Would you kindly sit down please? You're making me nervous."

Scorpius gave Madam Penny a hard look before grabbing the chair nearest to him and sitting down. Nora stared at him and couldn't help but notice how horrible he looked. One side of his face was covered in a streak of dried blood and his usually feather light blonde hair was matted with dirt and his own blood. The non bloodied side of his face now had a large purple bruise forming on his cheek from where Darius had hit him. However, the thing that stood out most about Scorpius were his eyes, which were the reflection of pure emotional anguish.

Nora was about to call Scorpius to come over and sit with her when she heard the sound of distant voices. Scorpius, Al, Nora and Penny turned to look at the door that led into the hospital wing and Nora cringed as it became very clear that the voices weren't people having a civil conversation.

"This should be good," Nora grumbled. The words were barely out of her mouth when Professor McGonagall strode into the room followed by Monroe, Longbottom, Stone, a few men Nora had never seen before and much to Nora's surprise Kingsley Shacklebolt and Harry Potter.

"Dad?" Al questioned in confusion.

"Al," Al's dad exclaimed in relief and he rushed over to where his son was lying on the bed. "Are you alright?"

"I just have a concussion," Al replied distractedly. "It's Rose you should be worried about." Al's dad looked over at Rose and swore under his breath when he saw his niece.

"What is the meaning of this?" Penny exclaimed and when she saw the wizards that Nora did not know staring in shock at the condition Rose was in, she whipped out her wand and savagely pulled the curtains around Rose's bed to shield her from their view. "Minerva, they should not be in here while I am tending to my patients," Penny fumed, pointing at the men Nora had never seen before.

"Do not worry, Lauren," McGonagall said firmly. "I will make sure that this meeting is quick and to the point."

"Quick," one of the men spluttered. "Minerva, there is currently an escaped convict from Canada lying dead in an empty classroom in your school. I promise you that this meeting will most likely be the first of many." This man was much better dressed then the other two men with him and his perfectly styled salt and pepper hair and proud expression were all the evidence Nora needed to come to a very obvious conclusion. This man was a politician and a very powerful one by the looks of things.

"Robert," Shacklebolt warned.

"Odd," Monroe said in an icy voice. "I thought it was your job, Sampson, to insure something like this would never happen. It was under your orders that Harry did not increase security around Hogwarts."

Nora stared at Monroe. The look of contempt on Monroe's face made it clear that there was no love between her and Sampson.

Sampson gave Monroe a dark look. "I was informed by the Canadian government that the situation was being handled effectively, so I did not see any need to up security around a school that barely anyone can get into."

"Enough," McGonagall ordered shrilly. "If we are going to find out what happened here tonight it may be in our best interest to ask the people who witnessed the events that lead to Darius Morzane's death."

Every head in the room turned in the direction of Nora, Al and Scorpius, each person's gaze scrutinizing and curious.

"I have no idea what happened after I was knocked out," Al explained. "So I'm no use when it comes to telling you how Darius wound up at the bottom of the astronomy tower."

"That's alright Al," Longbottom replied softly and he gave Al a reassuring nod.

"Miss. Wilson, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said softly. "What can you tell us about what happened tonight?"

Nora's eyes shifted in Scorpius' direction and back to the expectant faces of the adults around her. It was at that moment that the enormity of the situation she was in hit her in full force. Darius was dead and as much as Nora tried to deny it, she knew she had had a hand in him falling off of the astronomy tower. She opened her mouth to say something but she found that she was unable to say a single word. She had killed him. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she dropped her head so that no one could notice. Darius was dead and he was still haunting her. She let out a shaky laugh under her breath. She could even guess that he had planned to make sure that only she could have ever killed him, so that they would always be connected.

"Nora," Al said worriedly.

"Morzane captured Rose and I first," Scorpius suddenly blurted out. "We were doing our rounds when he attacked us in the hallways near the astronomy tower."

Nora's head shot up in surprise and all the heads in the room turned in Scorpius' direction. Scorpius' eyes flicked in Nora's direction and she gave him a smile of thanks as she wiped her eyes.

"Why were you doing rounds with Miss. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy?" Longbottom asked in confusion. "Shouldn't you have been doing them with Miss. Zabini."

"Yes, but Potter and Tatiana didn't show up, so Hallows paired Rose and I together and we decided to patrol Rose and Potter's normal route," Scorpius explained.

"What happened next," Sampson said tersely and he shot Nora an anxious look before looking back at Scorpius.

"Well, like I said, once we got to the hallway near the astronomy tower all the torches on the walls suddenly went out and the next thing I knew Rose was telling me to watch out and then everything went black," Scorpius clarified. "The evidence of me being hit on the head can be seen by the large gash that I now have and the blood all over my face," Scorpius said sarcastically, while looking at Sampson. Sampson shot Scorpius a disapproving look and Nora got the impression that this was not the first time Scorpius had run into Sampson. "The next thing I remember was waking up in the room at the top of the astronomy tower with Rose and the both of us were tied up and we didn't have our wands."

"Speaking of wands," Al interrupted. "Does anyone know where ours got to?"

Nora elbowed Al in the side when everyone turned and gave him disapproving looks over his interruption.

Scorpius grinned slightly and continued. "Rose and I were alone for about 20 minutes until Morzane showed up again with both Potter and Nora. Both of them were unconscious and much to both me and Rose's protests, he tied the two of them up as well. Nora woke up a few minutes later."

Everyone looked at Nora and she nodded to show that she agreed with him.

"How did Morzane capture you and Albus, Nora?" Al's dad asked gently.

"Well," Nora began. "I became worried when Rose never came back from her rounds so I convinced Al to come with me to look for her." Nora saw Al lower his head to hide the fact that he knew she was lying but Nora ignored his discomfort and continued. She was used to lying about things. It was what kept her label as the prodigy student intact when it should be the freak with super powers. "We made our way along Al and Rose's normal patrol route and when we came to the area where I'm guessing Rose and Scorpius were attacked, since we were both on guard because all of the lights were out. Unfortunately, Darius attacked Al first and he threatened to kill Al if I even tried to attack him. So, when I faltered, he stunned me."

Nora saw Al's dad's hand instantly go to Al's shoulder at the news that his son could have been easily killed only about an hour earlier. "So you woke up at the top of the astronomy tower, Nora," Al's dad clarified.

"Yes." Nora replied. "Al was still unconscious and Rose and Scorpius were arguing with Darius."

"What were they arguing about?" McGonagall asked in a soft voice.

"Darius was under the impression that I still loved him and Scorpius and Rose were telling him that that was impossible," Nora said in a cold voice and Al's dad swore under his breath as Kingsley rubbed his face tiredly.

"We were warned about this Kingsley," Al's dad said. "Nora and a few other sources from the Canadian auror department told us how obsessed he was."

"We couldn't investigate because we had no jurisdiction, Potter," Sampson replied. "You know that. If we were ever going to help in the investigation we would have had to have been invited in by the Canadian government."

"So you ignored the obvious fact that the relationship between Nora and her father is flawed and that Richard Wilson would stop at nothing to prove to his daughter that Morzane was not as smart as Nora told everyone he was," Longbottom exclaimed angrily. "That man would never admit that the poor relationship he has with his daughter effected how he viewed this investigation. You may not have had the jurisdiction to enter into the investigation but you had all of the authority to allow Harry to send as many auror's as you wanted to protect Hogwarts. Hell, you could have at least informed the public. Instead you pushed a threat to the students of this school to the back of your mind in the hopes it would never come back to bite you in the ass."

"Neville that is enough," McGonagall ordered. "I understand that you are emotionally involved in the current situation but you must keep your opinions to yourself until later."

Longbottom opened his mouth to say something else but he closed it and shot both Shacklebolt and Sampson angry looks.

"We are well aware that we failed to protect the students of Hogwarts, Neville," Shacklebolt replied grimly and he turned to look at Nora. "And for that I am sorry."

Nora nodded in his direction to show him that she accepted his apology. Nora turned her eyes towards Sampson who quickly turned his gaze away from her when he noticed her watching him. Now that was odd.

"If we have finished establishing how at fault the ministry appears to be," Monroe said sharply. "Maybe we should allow Mr. Malfoy and Miss. Wilson to finish their account of tonight's events." Nora heard one of the men who were standing behind Sampson whisper something to the other, which caused the man to grin and Monroe quickly gave them a dangerous look causing both men to shut up. "However before we begin," Monroe said, not looking away from both men, which caused them to fidget uncomfortably under her cold gaze. "Maybe you should order two of the finest auror's I have ever seen under Ministry employment to leave the room, Harry."

Al's dad gave Monroe a reproachful look before ordering the two auror's to leave the room. Once the two men had left the room, all eyes in the room were back on Nora.

"What happened after you woke up, Nora," Kingsley asked.

"Well Darius was being his normal unhinged self," Nora laughed dryly. "I got him to tell me how he was able to get out of Canada and into Hogwarts in order to stall him."

"Stall him from what?" Stone asked, after being oddly silent for the past few minutes.

"Stall him from following through on his promise to kill my friends in order for me to remember that I loved him back," Nora replied curtly. "Which he made before he knocked me out."

A very uncomfortable silence followed Nora's revelation and it was only broken when Sampson asked yet another question. "How did he get here then?"

Thankfully, Scorpius decided to answer that question. "He travelled through the muggle world back in Canada and when he was in some shipping city he snuck onto a freighter that was headed for England. That was how he got into the country."

"Yes, but how did he get into Hogwarts?" Sampson asked impatiently and Nora's gaze hardened at his insensitive attitude.

"You'll love this," Scorpius replied sarcastically as he fixed Sampson with a look of dislike. "He rented a place at the Leaky Cauldron and planned his break in while strolling through Diagon Alley like a tourist. He was the one who robbed the potion's shop down there, so he could use some of the store owner's personal cache of Polyjuice potion to impersonate a student here at school, which he was actually able to do." At this point, Scorpius sounded almost hysterical from the emotional stress he was under and Nora knew it was time to intervene.

"Oh my," Penny gasped and she rushed behind the curtain to check on Rose in an attempt to keep herself busy.

"He used Polyjuice potion to get in? Who did he impersonate?" McGonagall questioned.

"Susan Grenning," Nora answered. "She's a twin you see. So it was easy for him to walk around the castle without appearing out of place. She's been talking about being attacked before Easter break ever since we got back."

"Bloody hell," Longbottom replied in shock and he took a seat on the bed nearest him.

"Yes, but how did he know that this girl had a twin. This man has never been to Hogwarts. How could he have known how to get here?" Sampson questioned.

"He's read all the tell all books about Mr. Potter," Nora explained. "Therefore he knew all about Platform 9 ¾ and the Hogwarts Express. All he had to do was stakeout the platform entrance when we came home from Easter in order to see me and then try and get into the platform himself, which he was able to do."

"And that was where he saw Nora with Rose and Potter," Scorpius muttered.

Al's dad shot Scorpius an alarmed look and Nora continued. "That was also where he attacked Susan Grenning. While she was in the bathroom he snuck up on her and then wiped her memory clean of him in order to hide the fact that he had stolen her DNA."

"So, I'm guessing he followed the train back to Hogsmeade at the end of Easter break," Kingsley said.

"Yes," Nora replied. "And while he was in Hogsmeade he planned how he was going to get me alone and how he could hurt Al. I'm not really clear on the details but I'm guessing he made a couple of visits into the castle as Susan where he discovered that both Al and Rose do their patrols together and what route they normally take. So, his plan was to capture the both of them in order to get me to come out to find them, where he could capture me."

"But he was surprised when Rose was with me," Scorpius added in a dejected voice. "So he just settled for the both of us."

"Yes," Nora continued. "He was very pleased when I came looking for Rose with Al because this meant he could still have the chance to hurt him."

Al's dad rubbed his face and looked at the curtained off area where Rose was lying. "Now that we know how he got in here; how did Rose get so badly injured? You told us she was conscious when you woke up, Nora."

"She was," Nora replied. "But she said a few things that made Darius angry."

"Like what?" Stone asked.

"She was defending me," Scorpius replied dejectedly. "He was saying crap about me and when she defended me he hit her and- and he..." Scorpius trailed off and buried his head in his hands. Al's dad stared at Scorpius in horror and Penny popped back out from behind the curtain and rushed over to Scorpius.

"I understand how difficult this must be dear," Penny said soothingly as she rubbed Scorpius' back. "But I must know exactly what happened to Rose in order to understand her injuries fully."

Scorpius took a shaky breath in and Nora's heart broke. "He pushed her on the floor after he hit her," Nora continued shakily. "And when Scorpius and I told him to stop he kicked her in the side, which is how she broke her ribs. That was when I started to freak out and then I..." Nora trailed off. If she told them what happened next her secret would be out and she had a feeling that this Sampson guy had no idea what she could do.

"And then what, Nora?" Monroe said in a stern voice.

Nora looked at Monroe who gave her a meaningful look that Nora could only interpret as 'tell the truth now'. Nora took a deep breath in and answered. "And then I threw him up against the wall."

"What?" Al's dad said suddenly.

"I threw Darius up against the wall," Nora repeated quickly.

"I told you. I told you, Kingsley," Sampson muttered looking at Nora warily. "She can throw men up against walls without even touching them. How, in Merlin's name, are we supposed to convince the public that she isn't dangerous?"

"Be quiet, Robert," Shacklebolt ordered. "We'll leave this until later."

"Leave what until later?" Al asked in confusion and he looked at his father, who just looked at Nora.

"Nora, please continue," Al's dad said meaningfully.

"Um," Nora said distractedly as her mind was still processing Sampson's words. What did he mean by 'I told you'? Did he know about her abilities. "Well after I threw him against the wall, he started to lose it. Since he had been threatening to hurt Al if I ever used..." Nora paused when she saw the guarded look on Sampson's face but continued none the less. "...If I ever used my abilities on him. He was still telling us how he got into the school at this point but he was now using his wand to levitate Al around the room."

"Shit," Al swore. "That was what he was doing with me."

"Yes, but how did Rose get the way she is, Nora?" Al's dad said in a frantic voice.

"Well," Nora began. "I've told both Scorpius and Al about my abilities and other things that have happened in my past and Rose figured these things out herself. So, when Darius learned that other people, especially Al, knew more about me then he did... he didn't take it very well."

"So he cursed Rose when he found out she knew so much about you," Penny asked.

"Cursed?" Al's dad exclaimed.

"No, no," Nora said, trying to think of how to best explain what happened. "That was not why he cursed her."

"He was trying to curse me," Scorpius moaned as he lifted his head from his hands. "I was so angry after what he had said about me and after what he had done to Rose that I stopped thinking and I started egging him on."

"Scorpius," Nora said in a soft voice. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was, Nora," Scorpius shouted hysterically and everyone in the room jumped. "Because I was so bloody angry, I was stupid enough to insult him to the point where he snapped completely and tried to curse me. Rose just had to push me out of the way and, since she was tied up, she couldn't get out of the damn way in time to avoid the spell." Scorpius took a shuddering breath in and buried his head his hands.

"The blasting curse hit her in the chest I'm assuming," Penny said as she patted Scorpius comfortingly on the back.

"Yes," Nora replied in a sad voice and she wiped a stray tear that had fallen from her eye off of her face. "And when she was knocked backwards she hit her head off of the wall behind her and she hasn't woken up since."

Penny gave Scorpius' shoulder a comforting squeeze before she went back behind the curtain surrounding Rose's bed. Nora looked over at Al and Mr. Potter only to see them staring at Scorpius in confusion. It was understandable though. She would have been very confused if Scorpius Malfoy felt this bad over Rose Weasley getting hurt to the point where he blamed himself for the condition she was in. Neither of them had any clue how much Scorpius cared for Rose.

"While I am appalled by what happened to Miss. Weasley," Sampson began in a sincere voice. "There is still one thing we must know, Kingsley."

"Yes," Kingsley said in an exhausted voice. "We must know how Morzane fell off of the astronomy tower, Nora."

Nora stared at the two men and looked over at Monroe, who gave her a scrutinizing look. Darius was gone. He was a murderer who had killed one of her best friends and tried to kill the rest of them. He had been a sick son of a bitch and while she may feel guilty for taking a life and sinking to his level, she was most definitely not guilty for killing him.

Nora took a deep breath in and looked at both Shacklebolt and Sampson. "After Darius had knocked Rose out, it was clear to me that he had completely lost it. He started to levitate Al's body towards the open area of the astronomy tower and I was too emotional to concentrate on saving him no matter how hard I tried," Nora said in an emotional voice as she recalled how helpless she had felt when Darius was getting ready to drop Al from the astronomy tower.

"Nora," Al said and Nora looked at him and gave him a watery smile before taking his hand in hers.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but Darius was convinced that once he killed Al, Scorpius and Rose, I would be convinced that he was the one for me," Nora explained. "But when he said that I love him, I told him that I didn't and that I loved Al," Nora said and took a deep breath in. "I'm not really sure what happened next but I think the mental strain of me admitting that I didn't love him made him drop Al and start stumbling around the room muttering things that I couldn't quite hear. So, when he was distracted I started to untie the ropes around my ankles and my wrists and Scorpius had also managed to get out of his bonds before me. However, since we both weren't paying attention to Darius we didn't notice him stumble towards the opening of the astronomy tower until he was starting to fall out of it. Scorpius, who had gotten himself free at this point, ran to try and catch him but he couldn't get there in time to grab Darius."

There was a long silence before anyone said anything. "It was an accident," McGonagall said slowly.

"Yes," Nora replied, ignoring the fact that Scorpius had raised his head from his hands and was now giving her a questioning look. Fortunately no one appeared to be looking at him.

"He just happened to start losing his cool when he was about to drop Mr. Potter out the astronomy tower window," Sampson inquired.

"Robert," Shacklebolt warned with a sigh.

"People who are experiencing mental breaks often begin to say and see things that aren't there or never happened, Sampson," Monroe explained coolly. "Take it from someone who knows."

"I'm well aware of that, Cassandra," Sampson said irritably. "But isn't Mr. Potter lucky that Darius Morzane experienced his mental break just as he was about to plummet to his death."

"Robert," Al's dad growled in warning.

"Do you not believe me," Nora said in disbelief.

"No I do not Miss. Wilson," Sampson replied. "Since you could have easily pushed him out of that opening with your telekinesis."

Nora stared in awe at the man in front of her. "I did not do anything like that," Nora said truthfully.

"She's not lying," Scorpius said. "Morzane was muttering things about how Al needed to stay away from Nora as he stumbled around the room. Besides, I know for a fact that Nora needs to be calm in order concentrate hard enough to push a full grown man from the astronomy tower."

"And how would you know that Mr. Malfoy?" Sampson questioned curiously.

"He's my best friend that's why," Nora said in his defence and everyone stared at her in surprise.

"Really?" Stone questioned incredulously.

"Ya, I think it's weird too," Al mumbled and Nora shot him a look.

"I also know that Miss. Wilson needs to concentrate in order to be able to perform telekinesis and if she was too stressed she would not be able to use her powers as effectively as she would if she were calm," Monroe explained.

"While you may all be convinced that Miss. Wilson did not have a hand in Morzane's death, I can guarantee that the rest of the world will not be as easily convinced," Sampson advised.

"Why would the rest of the world learn I can use telekinesis?" Nora questioned, slightly panicked and she looked at Al's dad for answers. Mr. Potter gave her a look of regret in response.

"Tell her Harry," Sampson fumed. "Tell her why we got here so quickly. Tell her how I know about her special abilities, since I was never informed of what has been going on under my very nose."

"You did not need to know," Shacklebolt replied.

Mr. Potter gave Sampson a sharp look before he began to explain to Nora what was going on. "We were already awake," Al's dad said looking at Nora apologetically. "Because we were trying to make sure that the rest of the wizarding community did not find out about your gifts, Nora."

"How would the wizarding world find out about my abilities?" Nora questioned warily as she noticed the looks of pity she was receiving from several different people.

"There was an intelligence leak," Shacklebolt replied gravely. "We have been unable to find out who leaked the information about you being telekinetic to the Daily Prophet but we can promise that when we do find this person they will be severely punished. However, we do know that tomorrow's paper is going to have you on the front cover and we were up trying to convince the editor of the Daily Prophet to not print the article."

"He refused to not print it by the way," Sampson replied angrily. "Which means tomorrow we're going to have to deal with hundreds of different letters from concerned witches and wizards asking if it is safe for their children to be around you. We will have to give press conferences and make sure that no one from the media can get near you, because if they do, I guarantee we will have one hell of a problem on our hands no matter what you do. "

"And we have to avoid the death of Morzane and your involvement in the events leading up to it reaching the public," Mr. Potter explained. "Because the Prophet will have a field day with the news if they catch wind of it."

Nora stared in shock at the men in front of her. "The whole world is going to know about what I can really do in only a few hours," she asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Shacklebolt replied.

Nora wrenched her hand from Al's grip and buried her head in her palms. She never thought she would ever think it but she felt like she was going to faint. What was going to happen to her? Was she going to be shipped out of school and into the nearest lab so that scientific experiments could be performed on her? Or would she just be kicked out when all the parents complained about how dangerous she was. Just like what happened back in Canada.

"Kingsley, Robert," McGonagall said in a serious voice. "We need to discuss these matters further in my office. Precautions need to be taken to insure that Darius Morzane's death does not become a media disaster."

"Of course, Minerva," Shacklebolt replied.

"Carson, Neville, please take the auror's who are waiting outside to where you left Darius Morzane's body," McGonagall ordered. "I want it removed from my school immediately."

"Yes, Minerva," Stone replied.

"Cassandra?" McGonagall said in a questioning voice.

"I would like to talk to Nora a bit more Minerva," Monroe replied back.

"Alright," McGonagall said. "Do not be long though. Harry, take all the time you need with Albus and Rose. I will talk to you once you are finished."

"Thanks, Minerva."

Nora was barely registering what was happening around her. She heard the old door to the hospital wing creak open and then close quickly afterwards as most of the people in the room filed out. Everyone was going to know about what she could and then what was she going to do. People would question if her accomplishments were actually done by her or if she cheated. People were going to think she was a freak, a cheat , someone who didn't belong around everyone else. Everyone who was normal.

"Nora," Monroe said in a stern voice.

Nora didn't move. She was screwed. She would be forced out of school and she would be on her own forever. No one would ever accept the witch who was more powerful than any other witch or wizard in history. And the sad thing about the Prophet telling the world she was telepathic was that that was only half of what she was.

"Nora. Look at me please," Monroe ordered.

Nora pulled her head out of hands slowly and looked at her professor.

"What?" she croaked.

"I want you to tell me right now if there is something you have been keeping from me," Monroe said in a serious voice. "Because now is definitely not the time to be keeping secrets."

Nora just stared at her blankly. She knew. She knew that she had a hand in Darius' taking his fall off of the astronomy tower but she couldn't explain it because all Nora could really do up until now was read people's thoughts.

"Nora," Monroe repeated. "You are lucky that most of the ministry is unaware that you are telepathic, which is the only reason why that information was not leaked to the Prophet, but if something else happened on top of the astronomy tower you must tell me now, since McGonagall is now telling Kingsley and Sampson that you can use telepathy as well as telekinesis."

Nora stared her professor in the eyes, barely aware of the shocked looks on both Madam Penny and Mr. Potter's faces. The only person who had any idea about what happened on the astronomy tower was sitting a few feet away from her. But even he couldn't confirm what she had actually done and Nora found herself thankful of that fact.

"I already told you what happened on top of the astronomy tower professor," Nora lied, her expression blank.

Monroe shook her head slightly and stepped back. "Harry," Monroe suddenly said.

"Yes, Cassandra," Al's dad replied as he stared at Nora.

"Would you like to come up to Minerva's office with me," Monroe asked. "With Sampson up there, Minerva is going to need all the help she can to convince him that Nora is not a danger to anyone's lives, especially since she is going to have to tell both Shacklebolt and Sampson about her telepathy."

"Of course," Al's dad replied before turning towards Al. "I'll be back down here in a bit to talk to you Al and see how Rose is doing."

"Okay dad," Al replied and Mr. Potter quickly gave his son a hug before accompanying Monroe out of the room.

Penny immediately revealed herself from behind Rose's curtain and Al, Nora and Scorpius both stared at her looking for answers. "She will be fine," she replied gently. "Now Mr. Malfoy, how about we get you cleaned up so I can look at that head wound a bit better."

Scorpius got up from his seat and followed Penny past where both Al and Nora were to the bed that was next to Rose's, but not before giving Nora a look that instantly told her that he was well aware that she had just lied straight to Monroe's face.

* * *

A/N- So this chapter was more of rehash of what happened in the last chapter but it was necessary. However, poor Nora's life isn't about to get any easier because it has just been revealed that the entire wizarding world is about to learn about her abilities and she's already keeping secrets when she shouldn't be. Oooo suspense :P. Only 2 more chapters to go before this story is finished. Please read and review and I love everyone who has. xox


	29. Tell All's and Cover Up's

Chapter 29- Tell All's and Cover Up's

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is not mine. He belongs to J.K Rowling.

* * *

It had been about an hour before Al's dad returned to the hospital wing and he had not stayed long. After making sure both Al and Rose were alright and telling Nora that if she ever needed anything that she should not hesitate before coming to him, he had immediately left.

Penny had fussed over each of them for another half an hour before she decided they were fit enough to leave the hospital wing for the night and Al had to promise he would stay awake for the rest of the day.

Scorpius had refused to leave with Nora and Al because he wanted to make sure that Rose was alright and neither of them had had enough energy to try and convince him that he needed to go to sleep, so they had left that task to a very irritated Madam Penny.

"Are you alright, Nora," Al asked as they trudged through the dark deserted hallways.

"I'm fine, Al," Nora replied wearily.

Al exhaled sharply at her answer. "How can you be fine when you just saw your psychotic ex-boyfriend try to kill Rose, Malfoy and me and then fall off of the bloody astronomy tower to his death. And then after all that your informed that the entire wizarding world is about to discover that you can use telekinesis, which is an ability no one has ever been able to use in recorded history," Al ranted.

Nora rounded on Al. She was over whelmed and there was no denying it but all she wanted to do right now was curl into a ball and cry alone in her bed. "What would you like me to do Al?" Nora exclaimed. "Because I am honestly freaking out right now. I have no idea what is going to happen once everyone reads the Prophet in a few hours, and I would really appreciate it if you would just shut up and be there for me."

Al stared at her in shock for a few seconds before he let out a long sigh. "Of course I'll be here for you, Nora." Al replied and he closed the distance in between them and wrapped his arms around her. Nora automatically buried her head in Al's chest and held on to him for dear life. Al had to be the only stable thing in her life right now. He knew about her abilities and had accepted them long ago and he did something very few people had ever done in her life. He worried about her. While it was sometime's a little annoying that he could easily tell when she was not having a good day, it was still nice to know that he would always be there to pick her up when she fell. Nora took a shaky breath in and lifted her head to look Al in the eyes. "You okay," Al asked softly.

"Ya," Nora replied with a small smile.

Al proceeded to give her a quick kiss on the forehead and let go of her. "We should get some sleep," Al offered and he held out one of his hands. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Nora grabbed his outstretched hand and laced her fingers between his. "Sounds like a good idea but there is one thing that I want to do before everyone wakes up."

"And what's that?"

Nora smiled and began to walk in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. "You'll see."

* * *

Once Al and Nora were inside the Gryffindor common room Nora instructed Al to get Andy and David up and to meet her and Alice, when she woke her up, back in the common room. Al had only given her a confused look before he complied with her request. After Nora had woken up Alice, the group of friends gathered in front of the fireplace.

Nora only had to take one deep breath before she told the rest of her friends pretty much everything she had been keeping from them. She related to them the events of that night but without telling them about her new telepathic ability. She told them about why she was expelled from school; she explained what her abilities allowed her to do and exactly who Darius was. The only thing she left out were the issues she had with her father. That was something she wanted to keep to herself a little longer.

When she was done Andy, David and Alice were clearly in shock. They were silent for about a minute until she was attacked with a flurry of questions. Nora only remembered smiling in happiness at how well the rest of her friends were taking the news that her past had almost gotten Rose and Al killed. David thought that her being able to use telekinesis and telepathy was the coolest thing in the world. Alice was more worried about whether or not Nora was alright after being attacked and Andy was trying to convince Al to pay him 20 galleons for a bet that he apparently won that consisted of Nora being a super natural being. The next hour was spent answering Alice, David, Andy and sometime's Al's questions as best she could, but when the grandfather clock in the common room chimed that it was 3 o' clock in the morning, Al insisted that everyone should go to bed since tomorrow was going to be a day that they needed to be wide awake for.

"Are you sure you're alright, Nora," Alice asked quietly as they walked into their dorm room, both of them not wanting to wake up the Grenning twins.

"I'm fine, Alice," Nora replied with tired smile.

"Well that's good," Alice said with a yawn. "Since if it was me in your place right now I would probably be hyperventilating into a paper bag and hiding under my bed."

Nora let out a snort as she collapsed onto her bed, where she dozed off to the sound of Alice's voice.

* * *

"So when are we going to go visit, Rose?" David asked as the group of friends walked into the Great Hall.

Nora's eyes instantly went to the faces of all the different people in the hall and she sighed in relief when she saw that the Prophet had yet to arrive that morning. Al seemed to notice her relief and he smiled as he grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her closer to him.

"It'll probably be here any minute," Al whispered in a serious voice. "We can just grab something from the kitchens and head up to the hospital wing after if you like?"

"No, it's alright," Nora replied. "I think I should get this over with as soon as possible."

"Would you two quit trying to make me vomit," Andy said in a disgusted voice. "And answer my question."

Nora let go of Al's hand and sat down on one of the benches that were beside the Gryffindor table. "What was your question, Andy?"

"Do you know if Rose is awake or not?" Andy asked impatiently. "The visit will be a lot more uplifting if I can make fun of her for saving Malfoy."

"That's horrible Andy," Alice replied in disappointment. "Rose could have died and you want to make fun of her."

"Yes, but she didn't die Alice," Andy replied and he sat down in the spot directly in front of Nora. "Besides, Rose is tough. If she can handle a few broken ribs and being knocked unconscious by a blasting curse, she can handle a few well placed insults."

Nora laughed at Andy's comment only to stop suddenly when she heard the sudden flutter of wings from above her and she looked up to see a mass of owls descending towards individual students in the room.

"Oh dear," Alice said nervously.

"It looks like there are more owls than usual this morning," David said as he peered upwards.

"Just my luck," Nora grumbled as a paper landed in Al and David`s laps.

Al looked at the paper in his lap in disgust and David stared at it apprehensively. Andy chuckled. "Come on you two," he said. "One of you has to open the bloody thing."

"Fine," David grumbled and he ripped the twine off of the outside of the paper and unrolled it. David stared at the front cover of the paper with interest and Alice peered at it from his side.

"Well?" Nora questioned.

David gave her a sympathetic look and then turned the paper around so that the front cover faced Al, Andy and her.

_Threat or Saviour?_

_An Investigation into Hogwarts student, Nora Wilson._

"Cool," Andy said as he stared at the title on the paper in front of him.

"At least the giant picture of you on the front cover is a nice one, Nora," Alice said trying to offer up one positive aspect of the article in front of Nora's eyes.

Nora took a deep breath and chanced a sideward glance at the rest of the Gryffindor table only to see them all either staring at her in awe or with their noses buried in today's paper. Nora didn't even care about what everyone else in the room was doing when she dropped her head onto the wooden table. "Somebody read it please," Nora said unhappily.

"Oh right," David said in a flustered voice and Nora heard the crinkling of newsprint as David turned the paper to face him. "Do you want me to read it out loud?"

"Just to yourself and tell me the good parts. I am never going to read that article," Nora replied strongly.

There was silence for a few minutes before David began to speak. "Well I don't know the bloke who is writing this piece but he has some pretty cool one liners."

"What?" Nora asked and she lifted her head from the table.

"Well right here he says that 'there is more than just powerful magical artefacts hidden away inside Hogwarts these days'," David replied peering over his paper.

Nora shot him a dirty look and looked over at Alice. "Could you read it, please?"

"Of course," Alice replied with a comforting look before giving David a glare and snatching the paper from his hands.

Everyone stared expectantly at Alice as she read the article on the front page only to watch her flip the page and continue reading. Then a few minutes later she flipped a few more pages and scanned the page in front of her.

Andy stared at the paper in disbelief. "Merlin's beard. How much do they have to say about you, Nora?"

"It's not all about Nora entirely," Alice replied brow furrowed in concentration. "The first page is basically all about Nora's secretive past and how this reporter, Henry Caville, tried to get information on what happened to Nora back in Canada, which was when he ran into a lot of road blocks. Basically, a lot of Canadian and British Ministry officials have made it nearly impossible to find any incriminating information in your past Nora."

"What does it say about Darius?" Al asked.

"Well," Alice said as she flipped through the paper. "It just says that he's Nora's unhinged ex-boyfriend who's responsible for the death of a fifteen year old student at your old school about a year and a half ago."

"What about him dying," Nora asked. "Does it say anything about that?"

"It just says that he escaped from prison but was recently killed when Canadian auror's tried to recapture him back in Canada," Alice replied.

"The Ministry must have given the Prophet false information when they found out Darius was dead," Andy said in a hushed voice. "Everyone would go bloody mad if they found out he got into the school and attacked Rose and Al, since the two of you are like royalty in the wizarding world."

"The article also doesn't say a thing about the 'explosion' at your school either," Alice said. "Just that your father removed you from school a couple of weeks after your friends death due to mental health issues. Your father was also not available for comment."

Nora snorted. "Once he sees this, he's probably going to have a heart attack and die, so I'm not all that worried about him."

"What else does it say?" Al asked as he grinned at Nora.

"Well, the hook of the entire article is basically that Nora has super powers," Alice explained. "But Caville doesn't start going into detail about Nora's telekinesis until the next page, where it looks like he's quoted his anonymous source on what you can do."

"And?" Nora asked

"It says here that you have the ability to physically move, manipulate or alter anything without using your wand. Instead all you have to do is use your mind, which means that you don't have to recite any incantations in order to do magic," Alice clarified. "After that Caville starts going into detail about how hard the Ministry tried to keep you hushed up and whether or not this is a good or bad sign for the wizarding world."

"Which one is he leaning towards?" Nora asked warily. "Good or bad?"

Alice bent the paper and gave Nora a pitying look. "It's looking like he's leaning towards this being a bad sign."

Nora let out an angry sigh and rubbed her face wearily. Alice continued. "He talks a lot about how it's very obvious that none of the students at Hogwarts or these students parents were aware of what Nora could do and how this is quite a betrayal on the Ministry's part. He also talks about the possibility that there could be other people with special 'gifts' that the Ministry is hiding from the world."

"That's highly unlikely," Nora replied cynically.

"How do you know?" Andy asked. "There could be a whole tribe of your kind living somewhere in the middle of the Amazon Jungle dancing around a floating fire as we speak."

Nora fixed Andy with a dangerous look, which instantly made him shut up. Alice cleared her throat and began to speak again. "There isn't much more except a whole bunch of paranoid ramblings about how there could be the possibility that you can perform other kinds of magic and how you could be a danger to the entire world. He also prays that the Ministry has you under control," Alice said quickly when she realized what she was saying.

Nora stared darkly at the paper in front of her. So they hoped the Ministry could control her did they? Nora's hand clenched together to form a fist and she took a deep breath in to calm herself when she noticed the fork nearest her beginning to shake uncontrollably.

"The gossip section also has a lot to say about you too," Alice said as she flipped through the paper to read the gossip section.

"Oh shit, really," Al groaned and Nora looked at Al in surprise.

David peered over Alice's head to stare at the article Alice was reading, only to quickly look away with a loud snort. Nora looked at him in confusion. "What does it say?"

"It says that you have been rumoured to give off an aura that is appealing to all men and that must be how you managed to make Albus Potter your boyfriend, who just happens to be the son of the Harry Potter," Alice answered. "But since it is rumoured that your father is the richest man in all of North America, which doesn't make you a gold digger, the only reason why you must be interested in Al is because you have an unhealthy infatuation with always being in the spotlight."

Nora gaped at Alice and Al began to mutter obscenities under his breath. Meanwhile both Andy and David were trying in vain to control their laughter as Alice set the Prophet down on the table in front of her. "Well," Alice declared awkwardly when she saw the looks on both Al and Nora's faces. "That wasn't so bad was it?"

Nora stared at Alice in disbelief and Andy let out a loud laugh in response. "Not so bad," Nora said, slightly hysterical. "The Prophet just labelled me as a dangerous super natural being, who has enchanted the son of Harry Potter with my super powers in order to gain better social standing in the wizarding world."

"When you put it like that, Nora," David said with a smile. "It sounds a lot worse than it really is."

"It could get worse?" Nora asked frantically.

"Ya," he replied. "You could not have us."

Nora stared at David in silence. "He's right," Andy said with a grin. "I'm here to provide comic relief when you need it most. For example, you have to admit that it's bloody hilarious that the Prophet thinks that you've enchanted Al into loving you."

"This isn't funny you guys," Nora protested unhappily. "Just look at everyone's faces." She watched as her friends stared around them and Nora didn't have to turn her head to see what everyone else in the room was doing, because she could feel their scrutinizing and fearful looks burrowing their way into the back of her head. She could literally feel their opinion of her changing as each second passed by and she couldn't help but care. She didn't want to be seen as a dangerous liability to the rest of the world. She just wanted to be normal.

Alice was the first to look away from the looks the rest of the room was giving Nora. "Nora," she said in stern voice. "Don't you dare pay attention to a thing they say or do. It's not like you to give up. You're Nora bloody Wilson. You made Stone look like an idiot on your first day of classes, something everyone has wanted to do since they first met him. You helped Gryffindor win yet another quidditch cup without barely breaking a sweat and you have the ability to put Andy in his place, which I consider to be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen," Alice said passionately.

Nora gave Alice a weak smile as Al wrapped an arm around her waist. "I told you I would be here for you when everything went down and I still am, Nora," Al said. "And I guarantee the rest of my family will be on your side no matter what, which means you basically have your own army."

"Ya," David replied with a warm smile. "We're here for you too Nora and I know for a fact that when Rose finds out about this she's going to insist on writing a strongly worded letter to the Daily Prophet and possibly making very smart ass comments to anyone who says anything bad about you."

Nora snorted at David's comment and she took a deep breath in. "You guys are right. I've never let anyone push me around and I guarantee that if they start to try, they're going to get one hell of a wakeup call."

"That's the spirit," Andy replied enthusiastically. "But before we start challenging people of authority, I think you should take that message from the kid behind you, Nora. He looks like he's going to wet himself."

Nora turned around in surprise to see a Ravenclaw first year visibly shaking in awe as he stared at her; a piece of parchment clutched in his outstretched hand. Nora's eyes darted around her to see pretty much everyone staring at her and the boy, obviously waiting for her to attack him with some spectacular show of power. While Nora may have snapped at the boy for staring at her like she was going to flay him alive before the article in the Prophet was published, she knew for a fact that things were much different now. She was going to have to be a good little girl if she was going to avoid any more scrutiny from both the ministry and the media.

Nora felt her confidence returning to her and she stared into the little boys eyes and gave him one of the most dazzling smiles she could muster. Calm, cool and collected. That was what she had to radiate from now on.

"Thanks," she said pleasantly and plucked the message from the little boys hand.

"Gah," he mumbled; his mouth hanging open in a very unattractive manner.

"Yup," Nora replied awkwardly and she turned away from him and back to her friends just as the boy seemed to regain some semblance of coherent thought.

"You're welcome," he replied loudly and Andy looked about ready to piss his pants as he stared at the first year.

Nora gave him another smile and the boy's eyes widened again before he ducked his head and scampered away from where he was standing.

"Wow," David said in confusion as Andy burst in raucous laughter, causing several people in the room to turn their attention to him instead of Nora.

"I'm sure things will get better," Alice said reassuringly and she patted Nora on the arm in an attempt to comfort her. Nora just gave her a pointed look in response.

"Who's the message from?" Al asked as he glared at Andy, who was trying to cover up his laughter by covering his mouth with his hand.

Nora unfolded the message and stared down at it. "It's from Monroe," she replied as she read.

"What does it say?" Alice said eagerly. "Is Rose awake?"

Nora looked up from her letter and gave everyone an excited smile. "Yes and apparently she's not happy that she's being confined to the hospital wing."

"That's my Rosie," Andy said with a chuckle.

Nora looked back down at the letter and frowned when she read the rest of it. Al noticed her change of expression instantly. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Monroe wants me to come to her office after we've gone to see Rose," she replied with an over exaggerated look of ease. "Nothing Earth shattering."

Al fixed her with a serious look and Nora sighed. "It's probably just about the Ministry," she replied. "Don't worry about it because I'm not. Now let's go see, Rose."

The look on Al's face told Nora that he didn't believe her. She knew that Monroe wasn't about to drop any more life changing news on her lap any time soon, which was good. However, she was more worried about any more questions about how Darius fell off of the astronomy tower, because Nora knew for a fact that she would have to tell Monroe eventually that her powers had evolved yet again.

* * *

"The bloody Ministry wants me to lie about how I got 3 broken ribs, a concussion and a bloody black eye," Rose fumed. "Can you believe it?" Nora just stared at her friend in amusement. Only Rose would be this upset about lying about being attacked by a sociopath.

"Honestly, I had to relive one of the most traumatic moments of my life just so they could confirm that you're not lying Nora and then they ask me to pretend like I fell down a flight of stairs!" Rose exclaimed. "Do I look like someone who just goes chucking themselves down stairs for fun?"

"We're just happy your okay, Rose," Al said.

"I'll be alright when my parents slam the Prophet for being insensitive cowards who would actually try to ruin a girl's life for the sake of having record sales," Rose said angrily.

"I'm fine, Rose," Nora replied. "I've already told you this."

"Of course you are," Rose grumbled and then her face turned worried. "I lied to them you know. They told me that I figured out about your abilities and past sort of on my own and I told them that was true. I really am sorry about that Nora and I never meant to hurt you but I had to lie or I would have gotten Teddy in trouble."

"To be honest," Nora replied with sigh. "I've practically forgotten about all of that. Just never do it again, okay."

"Right," Rose said with a look of relief. "So what's your next move, Nora?"

"What?" Nora asked in confusion.

"I may have hit my head on a wall but I know for a fact that you know the Ministry is going to be all over you from now on, especially now that their suspicions have been confirmed about your telepathy. Politicians have one aim, and that is to make sure that whatever the public loves is on their side and whatever the public hates, or is afraid of, remains far away from anything that they associate with," Rose replied. "That's why I think you should come live at my house this summer."

"Why?" Nora replied in astonishment.

"You're going to need more than just us on your side, Nora," Rose replied wisely. "While it's good that we all know everything, I've met Robert Sampson. He's my mum's boss and while he may be good at his job, he hasn't taken the news about you very well. And that isn't good because he is one of the most powerful men in the Ministry right now. He will never pay attention to a bunch of 17 year olds, but he will pay attention to my family."

"Oh this is making me so nervous," Alice said in a tense voice.

"And how will Nora living with you help that?" Andy asked.

"Because how will it look to the media if my parents house the biggest 'what if' in the wizarding world for the summer?" Rose questioned.

"It'll look pretty good," Al replied with a nod.

"But what about your parents Rose? They have to let me live in their house before I can said there," Nora said.

"I already asked them," Rose replied with a small smile. "They said they would love it if you lived with us for the summer."

Nora gaped at her friend. Rose was quite the schemer and Nora hadn't even realized it. She knew her friend was smart, but not this kind of smart.

"Look at you," Andy said with an impressed look. "You get your head practically cracked open after trying to save a Malfoy and you're still coming up with plans to protect your friends from the Ministry."

Rose gave Andy a hard look and brushed a piece of hair from her face. "Speaking of Malfoy," Rose said hesitantly and she looked over at Al and Nora. "Where is he? I kind of wanted to talk to him about something."

Nora looked at her friend knowingly as she absent-mindedly began to pull small fluffs from the blanket she had wrapped around her in a show of nerves. "I honestly have no idea," Nora replied truthfully. "When I see him, which I'm pretty sure I will, I can send him your way."

"No, no," Rose said with a wave of her hand and she bit her lip nervously. "It's alright."

There was silence for a moment before Alice did something that Nora had been waiting a long time for.

"Oh," Alice said quietly, her voice resembling a person who had just solved a particularly difficult riddle.

"Oh what?" Andy asked, completely oblivious to what was going on.

"It's nothing, Andy. Don't worry about it," Nora said with a small smile, when she saw the confused look on Rose's face. The girl who could come up with the most brilliant plans to help someone navigate the murky waters of politics, was still too dense to realize what was staring her right in the face. However, Nora had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before everything became very clear to her redheaded friend.

Alice continued to stare at her friend and Nora nudged her in the side in order to make her stop. Alice got the message.

"Alright," a loud voice called out from the room not that far from Rose's bed. "It's time for Miss. Weasley to rest. She's been visited by far too many people today and she needs some time to herself." Penny then popped her head out from her office and gave them all stern looks. "Go on now. You can come back later tonight if you like."

Nora shot the short woman an amused look before looking back at Rose. "I guess we're going then."

"See you Rosie," Al said affectionately. "Get better so we can tell the world about how horrible that fall of yours was."

Rose shot her cousin a dark look before smiling at the people around her. "You better leave before Penny comes out and starts yelling at you. You should have heard her when the people from the Ministry started to over stay their welcome."

"Good plan," David replied and he grabbed a hold of Alice's hand and began to pull her towards the exit.

"Get better, Rosie," Alice said with large smile. "The Grenning twins are going to be horrid tonight and we are going to need you in there if we are ever going to get any sleep."

Andy laughed and began to follow his friends. "Ya, get better Rosie. I miss having someone who isn't always making kissy faces at their significant other while I'm trying to eat."

"He means it," Al said jokingly and he shoved his friend towards the exit with him following right behind him, leaving Rose alone with Nora.

Nora looked at Alice with sad eyes. While Rose was in good spirits, she did look a little worse for wear. There was bandage around her head and she had a large blotchy bruise on her cheek, which had spread high enough to make it look like she had black eye.

"Oh don't look at me like that," Rose said sternly. "This isn't your fault. To be honest, I was the stupid one who didn't report what I had seen. McGonagall would have believed me but I was just afraid of what you would think."

Nora took a shaky breath in. "I thought he'd really hurt you."

"Well he didn't," Rose replied, her chin raised proudly. "I'm a Weasley after all. We can survive anything." Nora let out a laugh and held out her arms wordlessly in front of her. "More hugs," Rose replied as Nora swooped towards her friend and gave her a loving hug. "Geez," she replied in a slightly muffled voice. "You guys must really miss my company. Andy practically tackled me when you first got here."

"I hear voices!" Penny yelled shrilly and Nora pulled away from her friend with a chuckle.

"See you later," Nora replied and with a slight wave, she walked quickly out of the room.

* * *

"Hello Nora," Monroe greeted, her voice as soothing as ever.

"Hey professor," Nora replied, standing in Monroe's office doorway. "You wanted to see me?"

"Mhmm yes," Monroe replied and she gestured to the seat in front of her desk. "Please take a seat."

Nora had come to Monroe's office immediately after leaving the hospital wing and the entire way she had begun to speculate over what Monroe wanted to tell her. As she had gotten closer to her office her speculating had turned into paranoid conspiracy theories and she had half convinced herself that a group of Unspeakable's would be waiting in Monroe's office to ambush her and cart her off to the Ministry, where she would be put inside a glass case so that scientists could study her. Nora gave her professor an anxious smile and sat in the seat that had been offered to her.

"How are you?" Monroe asked sincerely and Nora found herself unable to come up with an answer quickly.

"I guess... I guess I'm alright," Nora replied honestly. It was the truth. She had managed to convince herself for now that her warping Darius' mind was all self defence so there was no need to feel guilty about his death. Her friends had promised that they would be there by her side through the hurricane that was her life and she, for the first time in her life, knew that she was not alone.

"That's good to hear, since my news is not the best," Monroe replied honestly.

Nora's heart fell. "I'm not expelled am I?"

"No," Monroe replied. "You are not, but the schools board of governors have now decided to address your telepathy in full."

Nora took a deep breath in. "And what's the verdict."

"Well," Monroe said clearing her throat. "The board of governors feels that since they already did know about your telepathy months ago, much to Robert Sampson's displeasure, they do not feel the need to order Minerva to have you removed from the school. Since there has been no evidence of you using your abilities for nefarious reasons, there really was a very slim chance that they would have even considered having you expelled. It also helps that you are best friends with Liam Tennet's son."

"Don't let the Prophet find out," Nora replied angrily. "They're convinced that I've enchanted Al because I'm obsessed with being famous or something."

Monroe grinned at her, her shocking violet eyes flashing. "The Daily Prophet is, and always will be, run by bumbling idiots who just want their paper to sell. I believe it will be a sign of the apocalypse if Ginerva Potter, or anyone like her, ever became Editor in Chief of the Prophet."

"She could?" Nora asked in surprise.

"I doubt it," Monroe replied with a smirk.

Nora frowned at her professor. "Why don't you like Mrs. Potter?"

"Now what ever gave you that impression, Nora?" Monroe asked innocently but the broad smile on Monroe's face told Nora that the woman knew exactly what Nora was talking about.

"I have no idea," Nora replied sarcastically. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell me, because all the news you've given me so far seems pretty good."

Monroe's expression darkened. "The ministry wants to keep a very close eye on you from now on, which may be a problem when it comes to me finding my own replacement this summer."

"The ministry wants to interfere with Hogwarts? Didn't that end horribly the first time they tried that?" Nora questioned.

"It did," Monroe replied in a dangerous tone. "However, because of the ministry's influence, the board of governors has just past the motion that allows them to expel you if you ever so much as use your telepathic powers on another student. They are still in debate about your telekinesis."

"Well that's just stupid," Nora replied. "How are they going to tell?" Monroe shot her a pointed look, which made Nora realize that Monroe had already told her how. "Your replacement will be able to tell."

"Most likely, yes," Monroe replied curtly. Nora knew that the idea of the Ministry invading Hogwarts, the first year Monroe could call it hers, was not sitting well with her professor. "The replacement will most likely be able to use legilimency and occlumency, which will help him or her to know whether or not you are using your telepathy on others. What is even more ironic is the fact that the person they have in mind is probably the best person suited for the job."

"Oh," Nora replied.

Monroe let out a long sigh. "Yes, it is an issue," Monroe paused before continuing,"but let us change the subject. How do you feel about the Prophet's portrayal of your telekinetic abilities?"

"It made me angry," Nora admitted. "Their judging me based on what some anonymous source told them and now the entire wizarding world thinks I'm the freak from Canada who's going to come throttle them in their sleep."

"You are not a freak, Nora," Monroe said with a shake of her head.

"You say that now but I don't see anyone else coming forward and telling the world that they are like me," Nora said gloomily. "I'm the only witch in the world who can honestly sometime's say that my wand is useless to me. I know I have people on my side this time around but it still sucks because I know that the biggest shit storm in the world is about to blow into my life and turn it upside down and there is nothing I can do about it."

Monroe gave Nora comforting smile. "I do not think that you will be the only person to say that in the years to come."

"How do you know that?"

"Have you not noticed how there are more and more muggleborn witches and wizards born every year, Nora?" Monroe asked.

"Yes," Nora replied giving Monroe a puzzled look. "But what does that have to do with me?"

"I have a theory," Monroe admitted. "I believe that the muggle theory of evolution is the reason behind this phenomenon. I sincerely believe muggles were here first. However, as time passed certain individuals began to develop magical powers. If we were to look back 1500 years and try to guess how many witches and wizards were alive at the time, we would find a much smaller population compared to the one that is living on the planet today," Monroe explained.

"So what am I?"

"The next step," Monroe said simply. "There will be a time when witches and wizards will no longer need to use a wand to perform magic and I believe you may be the first clear indicator of that fact; the first of a new generation of wizards and witches."

"I'm the next stage in evolution?" Nora questioned in high pitched voice, her mind barely wrapping around the idea that she was like the mutants from the muggle comic X-Men.

"You make it sound so horrible," Monroe said with a chuckle. "Just think of it as raising the stakes of evolution a little higher." Nora gave her professor a dark look and Monroe laughed again. "I may be wrong my dear. You could have been given these abilities by some divine higher being so that you can one day save mankind. However, right now, we can only guess why you are different from everyone else. But I can honestly say that you are destined for great things, Nora. And while you may not see that right now... you will someday soon."

Nora smiled slightly. Nora would never admit it to her, but she respected Cassandra Monroe more than any other adult who had ever walked into her life. "That was good," she replied cheekily. "Do you give inspiring speeches like that to all of your students?"

Monroe gave her a dry look. "No only to the undeserving ones. Now get out of my office."

Nora grinned broadly at her professor as she stood. "See you professor," she said, giving Monroe a mock salute before leaving the room.

Monroe shook her head, a small frown gracing her features, as she watched Nora leave the room. "She may be destined for great things but she will need all the help she can get along the way."

* * *

Nora spent the rest of her Saturday afternoon lounging around outside and being stared at. Nora knew the staring was only the first stage, so she decided to enjoy the silence while it lasted. However, in true Weasley/Potter form, Al and Rose's families had gotten over their shock quickly and ambushed her on the grounds that afternoon.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lily asked in an offended voice

"Bloody hell Wilson, I didn't know you had super powers," James exclaimed.

"You can actually make things float with your mind," Roxie gushed.

"I knew you were way too hot to be normal," Louis muttered

"Way to be selfish Nora. If I had known you could have just floated my wand out of that tree the other day; I wouldn't have had to climb up the damn thing and practically break my neck when I fell out of it," Fred grumbled.

By dinner time, the silence still remained amongst the rest of the school and a new problem had settled itself inside Nora's head. Nora shot an anxious look over at the Slytherin table and frowned. Scorpius had been M.I.A the entire day and she was starting to worry.

"What's up, Nora?" Andy asked as he munched on a bread stick.

"I haven't seen Scorpius all day," Nora said worriedly.

"And that's a problem because?" Andy questioned and Al snorted into his goblet.

Nora gave him an icy glare. "It's a problem because it means that he's off somewhere slowly trying to convince himself he is the worst person in the entire world, which is not a good thing for someone like him."

"Maybe you should go look for him then," Alice suggested.

Nora stared anxiously at the entrance to the Great Hall. Come on Scorpius. Walk through that door with that arrogant smirk that I've grown to love. But nothing happened and Nora was instantly on her feet. "Good idea, Alice," Nora replied as she distractedly gave Al a kiss on the lips.

"Where are you going to look?" Al asked in confusion when she pulled away from him.

"Library," she replied and before any of her friends could ask her any more questions she strode quickly from the room.

She found Scorpius exactly where she thought he would be. Nora slowly approached the secluded table that Scorpius and her always chose to study at. Nora really had no idea why they liked the spot so much but she had to guess it had something to do with the fact that it was so private.

"Hey Scorp," Nora said softly. Scorpius remained silent as he stared down at the book on the table in front of him. Nora sighed. "I haven't seen you all day. How have you been?"

More silence.

Nora let out an irritated huff and grabbed the seat that was directly in front of her friend and sat down. "Scorpius," Nora said in a harsh voice. "Cut the crap. Rose is fine. You didn't get her killed."

"I could have," Scorpius replied in a hollow voice.

"Yes, but you didn't, so stop. This angsty depressed version of you is starting to get on my nerves," Nora replied angrily.

"You don't understand," Scorpius said and he looked up from his book to meet her eyes, his black eye becoming more prominent in the glow of the lamplight. Even with his face all cleaned up, Scorpius still looked like he hadn't slept at all last night. "What happened last night proves that I'm a Malfoy."

"What?"

"The way I acted towards him. I called him a mudblood because I knew it would set him off," Scorpius exclaimed. "And I have no idea why I did it."

"So now you think your father and your grandfather's beliefs were stamped onto your DNA from birth," Nora replied heatedly. "That's bullshit and you know it. You are nothing like your father or you grandfather. You weren't thinking rationally when you started to insult him and I can even prove it."

"And how can you do that?" Scorpius asked miserably.

Nora reached out and grasped Scorpius' forearm firmly. "Because your father or your grandfather would never feel this horrible after what you did up there. The fact that you're so torn up about your mistake tells me that you are nothing like them."

Scorpius stared at her in silence and she stared back with as much sincerity as she could muster. She wasn't leaving this spot until she convinced him to forgive himself.

"She was asking for you," Nora said, breaking the silence in between them.

"Who?" Scorpius asked in interest.

"Who do you think?" Nora replied with a smile. "How long did you stay with her last night?"

"Until it looked like she was starting to wake up," Scorpius replied sadly. "I didn't think I could face her when she was awake."

"Well you're going to have to," Nora replied sternly and she let go of Scorpius' arm so she could lean back in her chair. "She'll eventually corner you when she musters up the courage. You should have seen how angry she was over the Ministry telling her to lie about what happened to her. They're making her tell everyone that she fell down a flight of stairs."

Scorpius allowed a small smile to grace his weary face. "They told me to pretend that I walked into something."

Nora chuckled under her breath and the two of them settled into comfortable silence. Nora knew that Scorpius would be alright now. Sure, he'd still think it was his fault for getting Rose hurt but at least now he wouldn't be moping in a dark corner about it.

"You lied to Monroe," Scorpius said suddenly causing Nora to jump slightly.

"What?"

"When Monroe asked if you were keeping anything from her, you lied when you told her you had already told her everything," Scorpius said in a serious voice.

Nora sighed. She should have known Scorpius would know when she was lying. He had gotten oddly good at reading her emotions. Then again, she had gotten good at reading him like an open book as well. "Was I that obvious?" Nora asked unhappily.

"No," Scorpius replied. "I just know that when you lie... you sound like someone who is telling the truth."

Nora snorted at Scorpius' comment. "It's because I'm so good at it."

"I read the Prophet," Scorpius replied.

"So are you going to ask me a whole bunch of annoying questions as well," Nora replied irritably.

Scorpius shook his head. "No. I know I can't make you tell me anything unless you want to in the first place."

Nora smiled at her friend in appreciation. They both understood their needs for privacy better than anyone else.

"There is one thing that I must know though," Scorpius said in a serious voice. "If I'm going to lie for you about how Darius fell off of the astronomy tower, you need to tell me in as little words as possible exactly what happened up there."

Nora gave Scorpius a meaningful look. There was no way to avoid telling him and she knew she needed to have someone on her side on this issue and who better then Scorpius Malfoy. While he may not be like the Malfoy's before him, he was still the cleverest person she had ever met. Nora could even say that he was a true Slytherin. What all Slytherin's would have been like if Salazar Slytherin hadn't been an idiot and made them all believe that only pureblood's should be taught magic.

"Let's just say I can do more then read minds these days," Nora replied.

"When did this start?" Scorpius asked.

"Last night," Nora answered.

"Am I going to get a specific ability," Scorpius asked harshly. "Or am I going to have to guess?"

"I think I put my memories inside his head," Nora replied, giving him a hesitant look.

Scorpius stared at her in shock for a second and leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "This is big."

"Ya."

"It proves that your abilities are getting stronger," Scorpius added.

"And that I could have killed, Darius," Nora replied, her guilt returning to her.

Scorpius had grabbed a hold of her hand before Nora could even blink. Nora looked at him in surprise. "Don't you dare think that you killed that bastard, Nora," he said passionately while gripping her hand tightly. "You were protecting Potter. You were protecting yourself."

"Yes," Nora replied and she tried to pull her hand from Scorpius' but failed when he gripped it harder. "But the Ministry would never see it that way. That's why I didn't tell them."

"Then they'll never figure out what really happened," Scorpius replied adamantly.

Nora stared at her friend for a second as she realized exactly what they were planning on doing. "We are the worst pair of best friends that I've ever known. You're really willing to lie about this?"

"We're best mates aren't we," Scorpius stated ardently.

* * *

A/N- So this was a very long chapter and I am fully aware that I could have split it in hald but then I though 'meh... why not'. This was my official tie up all loose ends chapter since there is only one chapter left. I'm a bit sad that 'Evolving Stakes' is almost over but I'm also excited to work on my sequel. Anyway, please read and review as always. Thanks! :)


	30. There's More To This Then I Thought

Chapter 30- There's More Too This Then I Thought

Disclaimer- Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, even though I wish he was mine.

* * *

The last month of school kept Nora busier than she ever thought she could be. Studying for exams was an afterthought when it came to the changes that were occurring in her life.

It had only taken a couple of days for the wizarding world to get over its shock and instead of becoming a panicked mob of frightened citizens, the wizarding population of the United Kingdom became a panicked _and_ angry mob of frightened citizens, who complained every chance they could get. The letters that were written to the Prophet, after the original article on her abilities was published, all had about the same message of Nora being a danger to society that needed to be locked up immediately and that someone in the Ministry needed to be held accountable for keeping such a security threat a secret. Nora continuously voted for Sampson to be the one to take the fall.

Things at school weren't great either. While the Gryffindor's thought it was the coolest thing in the world that one of their house mates had super powers, the rest of the school didn't like it as much. Now that they had a specific reason why they should be scared of her, they were using it every chance they could get. This had resulted in several fights between Gryffindor's and several members of the other houses, which the Prophet also shortly got wind of and then blamed on her and the horrible teaching staff that was currently employed at Hogwarts. Their words, not hers.

Nora sighed as she scribbled down yet another answer on her Transfiguration exam. Nora peered around and huffed angrily over the humiliation of having to take her exam alone, but still at the same time as everyone else. Yes, the Ministry had insisted that she take her final written exams a part from all the other students in order to make sure that she wouldn't cheat. Nora had not been pleased and there was a broken window in her dorm room that proved it. The Ministry had even made her take a surprise exam 2 weeks ago, before all of the exams began, to see if she actually was a prodigy student, even though she had only developed her telepathy at the beginning of the year. Something they were well aware of. Nora smirked as she circled the correct answer to one of the exam questions on her paper as she remembered the disappointed looks on the Ministry official's faces when she scored a 95% on her exam.

Nora quickly scribbled down the answer to the last question and got up from her desk, exam in hand.

"Finished, Miss. Wilson?" Monroe asked as Nora approached her desk. Monroe had been chosen to oversee her Transfiguration exam, since Gale could not leave the rest of the 6th years unattended during their exam period.

"Yes," Nora replied and she held out the exam in front of her.

"I would like to see it before she hands it in," a shrill voice said from the side of the room.

Nora's lip curled in displeasure as she turned her head to look at the woman in the corner. Nancy Blotter was yet another one of the Ministry's new anti-cheating precautions and she had to be the most annoying person on the planet. Not to mention, she seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with the colour purple.

Monroe sent the woman a dark look, which, paired with Nora`s look of displeasure, made the woman cower slightly in her seat. "Why?" Monroe asked in exasperation.

"Because it is my job to check her work," Nancy replied as she smoothed her shockingly violet skirt with her hands nervously.

"What exactly are you checking her exam for?" Monroe asked impatiently.

"Any irregularities. For example, I must see if she wrote you any secret messages that she did not wish me to see," Nancy replied, her chin jutting upwards unattractively.

Nora winced slightly when she saw Monroe's eye begin to twitch with rage. Monroe stood up from her seat and stared at the small woman in the corner coldly. "Are you telling me Miss. Blotter," Monroe paused for effect and Nancy whimpered slightly when she noticed the frigid look on Monroe's face, "that Miss. Wilson, a 17 year old girl, and I, the next headmistress of this illustrious school, are planning something nefarious together? Because if you are, I promise you that you will be out of this school before you can even blink."

Nora took the dangerous tone in Monroe's voice as a sign to leave and she rushed out of the room as Nancy began to stutter an answer to Monroe's question. Luckily for Nora the hallways were practically empty since most people were either outside or writing their exams, so she happily managed to avoid mobs of jeering Slytherin's. Nora walked quickly through the hall and turned a corner, only to jump into the nearest alcove in the wall, when she almost walked right into the middle of a fight between Zabini and Scorpius.

Nora peered out from her hiding place and breathed a sigh of relief when it was clear that neither of them had seen her round the corner.

"Tatiana," Scorpius said in an exasperated voice. "Could we please do this later? I need to go do something."

"Do this later," Zabini spluttered. "This is about our relationship Scorpius, or lack thereof in our case!"

"What do you mean 'lack thereof'," Scorpius said angrily.

"How about the fact that we haven't had sex in weeks," Zabini exclaimed. "The most contact we've had this entire month is when you kiss me like your bloody grandmother."

Nora had to cover her mouth with her hand in order to keep herself from laughing out loud at how red Scorpius looked.

"Why don't you bloody well yell it to the entire school, Tatiana," Scorpius hissed.

"I will if it means I can get shagged," Zabini replied angrily. Nora snorted under her breath. Zabini was quite the model of class and elegance.

"I'm going through some stuff right now," Scorpius replied heatedly.

"So you don't want to have sex," Zabini replied in disbelief. "Every bloke wants to have sex. So the question is... who are you having sex with?"

"What?" Scorpius exclaimed in alarm. "I'm not shagging anyone. Have you gone bloody mental?"

"It's Weasley isn't it?" Zabini snarled and Scorpius' eyes widened in shock. "I knew it. She's been acting funny around you ever since she fell down those stairs and broke her head or something."

"I am not sleeping with Rose," Scorpius replied adamantly.

"Sure, Scorpius," Zabini said with a roll of her eyes. "And you've always called her 'Rose' as well."

Scorpius looked clearly taken aback by Zabini's comment and Nora couldn't help but think that she knew exactly why Scorpius had stopped having sex with Zabini, and it wasn't just because she was a horrible human being.

"That's what I thought," Zabini said silkily. "So, since you're shagging Weasley, I've decided to tell you that if you don't stop... I'm going to shag who ever I bloody well like."

Scorpius swore under his breath and stared at Zabini like she was psychotic. "I'm not dealing with this right now," he said with frustration as he brushed past Zabini and began walking in the opposite direction from where Nora was hiding.

"Don't you dare walk away from me," Zabini warned and Nora watched as she marched off after Scorpius and out of sight.

Nora stepped out from her hiding place and stared at the place where Scorpius and Zabini had just been. Nora knew for a fact that Rose was not having sex with Scorpius and that Scorpius wasn't going through a promiscuous stage, which meant... Scorpius wasn't having sex with anyone.

Nora grinned to herself as she continued her walk through the hallways. She had never been so excited about two people not having sex in her entire life.

* * *

"So how did you do on your exam, Rose?" Alice asked.

Rose peered over at where her friend was lying on the grass. "I think it went alright. But I think I completely messed up question 16."

"Oh shut up, Rosie," Andy said. "You got an O on your exam and we all know it."

"I wonder why Nora's taking so long to get here," Al replied from where he was propped up against a tree. "She should not have taken this long to write her exam."

"Maybe the purple people eater is giving her a hard time," Andy replied cheekily, which earned him a high five from Dave.

"She was but, let's just say, she may not be long for this world," Nora said from behind Rose and she whirled around to see her friend smiling brightly at her.

"Why?" David asked lifting his head from her it was resting on Alice's stomach to stare at Nora.

"Monroe was supervising my transfiguration exam," Nora replied gleefully as she sat down beside Al.

"Monroe's probably hiding her body as we speak," Al chuckled.

"How was your exam though?" Rose asked.

"Easy," Nora replied coolly. "It took me so long to get here because I ran into someone."

Al instantly went rigid. "Who was it this time?"

"It wasn't like that," Nora replied sincerely. "I just ran into Scorpius."

Rose fidgeted uncomfortably at the name. "What did he want?" she asked absent-mindedly.

"His relationship with Zabini hasn't been so hot lately," Nora replied.

Rose didn't know why, but she found herself really liking the idea that Zabini and Malfoy's relationship wasn't faring so well.

"I've heard about that," Alice replied eagerly. "There are rumours going around that Malfoy's shagging someone else."

Rose's eyes shot open in surprise. "Really?" she asked and then instantly regretted doing so.

David shot her a surprised look. "When did you become so interested in who Malfoy's shagging, Rose?"

"I'm just surprised that's all," Rose stammered in embarrassment.

"I frankly do not care," Andy replied. "Since tonight I plan on getting drunk and forgetting all of my problems."

"The only problem you have Andy is lack of self restraint," Al replied cheekily. "It's your fault you tackled Gerard the other day and got detention."

"He accused Nora of using her powers this quidditch season and I wasn't about to let him walk away after saying that," Andy replied passionately.

"While I appreciate the act of chivalry Andy, the professors know I never cheated, so I really don't care what anyone thinks," Nora replied. "You know that."

"Ya, ya," Andy said with a wave of his hand. "I'm still going to look out for you anyway."

"Okay Andy," Al said with a laugh. "We get it. You love Nora like a sister. Let's change the subject back to the party. Who's getting the alcohol?"

"James of course," Nora replied in a matter of face tone. "Fred and Darren will probably tag along."

"I thought he was too busy being tied down by our lovely head girl," Al chuckled.

"He was able to get away for the afternoon apparently. But something tells me James wouldn't mind being tied down by Shasta," Andy replied suggestively and David and Al snorted loudly in response.

"Please don't do anything stupid tonight you guys," Alice said worriedly while shooting Andy a disgusted look.

"Ya, Rose," Andy said with a sly grin. "Don't get as smashed as you did last year, because we all know what happens when you do."

Rose gave her friends dirty looks when they began to laugh at her misfortune. She had made herself promise to not drink too much at tonight's annual school wide, end of year, bash. The end of year party had become a tradition at Hogwarts ever since the school was rebuilt after the battle against Voldemort at the end of the Second War. While at first the party was just meant to promote house unity, that message quickly changed when people started to bring alcohol. While everyone from every house was invited to the party, which this year was taking place in the Gryffindor common room, the only example of house unity Rose had ever seen was people from different houses hooking up and then regretting it immensely the next day.

However, Rose had to admit that everyone desperately needed a party. Rose had honestly never seen so many fights and arguments in such a short period of time and she was pretty sure it was sending a horrible message to the younger students, who were already terrified of Nora to begin with. Rose stared over at Nora, who was now attempting to thumb wrestle Al and she couldn't help but smile. For someone who had been recently exposed to the entire wizarding world as a possible threat to national security, she was handling everything rather well.

Rose had also handled being bedridden for a good week after Darius had attacked her with as much grace as she could muster. She had definitely not enjoyed telling people that she had just fallen down a flight of stairs when they had begun to notice her absence and had come to visit her. However, the one thing she had not taken very well was the fact that she had totally prevented Scorpius from being knocked back into a wall, possibly saving his life. And what exactly had possessed her to do something so irrational?

She honestly had no idea.

That question had been plaguing her for the past four weeks and she could not come up with a good enough answer to explain the sudden grip of fear that had grabbed a hold of her heart when Darius had directed his wand in Scorpius' direction. Or why the solution to getting rid of that fear was to sacrifice herself for a bloke who was able to get on her very last nerve every time he struck up a conversation with her. Alice had to have been the only one to come up with the best explanation for Rose's complete lapse in judgement. She believed that Rose's Gryffindor spirit had kicked in and that she must have felt obligated to save Malfoy from being killed by a madman. Nora had not liked that explanation, since she was convinced that Rose had latent romantic feelings for Malfoy, which was absolutely hilarious.

Rose turned her gaze away from her friends only to suddenly catch a glimpse of Malfoy walking purposefully across the grounds towards the quidditch pitch. The horrible bruise that had been on the side of his face was now gone and she had not been near him long enough to know how the gash on his head looked, since she had been avoiding him like the plague. Also, while Rose wasn't completely sure, she was pretty sure the reason why she was able to avoid him so well, was because he was avoiding her as well.

While she was grateful for his silence, she couldn't help but be a little peeved over his lack of thanks. After all, she had possibly saved his life. Didn't she at least deserve a thank you or at least a small acknowledgement from him showing her that he appreciated still being alive.

"Oi!" James called out as he loped towards the group of friends, snapping Rose from her thoughts. "Can you lot come help Darren, Fred and I get the bloody firewhiskey into the school? Stone has been on our backs the entire day and we're having some trouble getting it to the common room without getting caught."

"Why don't you get your beloved to help you Jamsie," Nora sniggered.

James fixed Nora with a dark look. "Someone needs to get up off of their asses and help me before I make them. It's my last day of school and I plan on making it memorable, and I cannot do that without a sufficient amount of alcohol for the rest of the school."

"Relax, James," Al said with a sigh as he stood up from the ground. "I will help you smuggle illegal firewhiskey into the school and Andy and David will help."

"I don't remember volunteering," David protested.

"You'll get free alcohol if you come along," Al promised while giving his brother a meaningful look.

James gave Al a glare before responding grudgingly. "Fine. Yes, you'll get free whiskey."

"Brilliant," Andy said excitedly. "Come on Dave, Al. Let's go distract Stone while James sneaks our whiskey in."

Rose gave her family and friends a disapproving look as they trotted towards where Stone was watching everyone on the grounds. "Something is going to happen tonight," Rose said worriedly as she watched James slip away from the group and head off in the opposite direction of Stone. "I can just tell."

"You worry too much, Rosie" Nora replied lazily. "Besides, you do know that the more you worry about a certain thing, the more likely it is too happen."

Rose bit her lip worriedly as she watched the guys distract Stone. She didn't care what Nora said. There was an uneasy feeling clawing at her stomach and she just couldn't shake it. The only problem was, was the feeling about her friends or herself.

* * *

James had, by far, out done himself with the amount of alcohol he had obtained. There was a wide variety of both muggle and wizarding drinks and Rose had hesitantly decided to try a muggle concoction that was called a rum and coke.

"Rosie, quit staring at it like it's going to bite you," James laughed. "It's just muggle rum and that weird fizzy stuff they call 'coke'. It's actually pretty good."

Rose glared at her cousin and took a large gulp of the concoction that was sloshing around in her cup. Rose instantly grimaced at the amount of alcohol she could taste. "Ugh, James!" Rose exclaimed. "How much of that rum stuff did you put in here?"

"All I remember is that I put more rum in there then coke," James grinned and Rose stared down at her cup in disgust. This one drink would probably have her set for the rest of the night.

Rose heaved a sigh and began to push her way through the hordes of people surrounding her, while doing her best to not spill her drink on any unsuspecting people.

Practically everyone from fourth year and up had shown up for the party and Rose could even make out a few younger students who had snuck in to see what all the fuss was about. Rose managed to shove herself past another group of people into a more open area where her friends and family were hanging out.

"Rose!" Andy called out loudly, already on his third drink. "Did you get one of James' muggle drinks? Aren't they brilliant?"

Rose raised a brow in her friend's direction. "They're great because they're about 90% alcohol. You really shouldn't drink anymore or you're going to do something you'll regret."

Andy glared at her stubbornly. "That's no way to support house unity, Rosie."

"Since when did getting smashed symbolize house unity?" Rose shot back and everyone blinked at her in surprise.

"Bloody hell, Rose," Al said with a laugh. "What's got your knickers in a knot?"

Rose sat down in the nearest seat with a loud huff. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" Nora asked with a grin. "Because it looks like something's bothering you."

Rose shot her a friend a dirty look. "You do know I can rescind the offer for you to live at my house for the summer until the moment you step inside my house," Rose snapped.

"Woah," Al said in surprise. "Calm down, Rosie. It's obvious something's bothering you, so why don't you tell us what's wrong."

"I don't know," Rose said with a frustrated sigh. "I should be happy right now. I'm officially done my sixth year, all my friends are safe, there are no mad men trying to kill me and no one has made a single comment about Nora being a freak the entire night. I should be dancing on air right now, but instead, something has been bothering all day."

"Maybe it's your conscience's way of telling you that you need to do something," Alice offered with an eager look.

"Huh?" Rose responded with a bemused look.

"What Alice is trying to say, Rose," Nora stated, "is that maybe you need to do something important or you're going to keep feeling like crap for the rest of the night."

Rose just stared at her friend. She knew exactly what she was talking about and she didn't like it.

"Is now really the best time to talk to Malfoy about what happened?" Rose questioned unhappily.

"What do you think?" Nora asked seriously.

Rose's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Nora would say something like that. After all she had been trying to convince Rose to talk to Scorpius for weeks now.

"Wait a minute," David suddenly said. "I'm confused. Is Rose talking to Malfoy about what happened to them on the astronomy tower or her latent romantic feelings towards him?"

"I do not have latent romantic feelings for Malfoy," Rose protested loudly.

"She's just talking to him about what happened on top of the astronomy tower, Dave," Alice replied.

"I think she should talk to him about both," Andy said under his breath.

"Shut it, Andy," Rose barked.

"When you're talking to him you should probably call him by his first name by the way," Al offered.

"And why would I do that?" Rose asked.

"Because he only calls you by your first name, remember. I told you this weeks ago." Nora replied in a matter of fact tone.

Rose fidgeted uncomfortably over the news. Why in the world was he calling her by her first name? Especially after the incident in the middle of the year that ended with him insisting that they only call each other by their last names. However, Rose was stubborn. That much she did know. She was not about to give in to doing something that was going to be very uncomfortable for her and most likely Malfoy as well.

"I don't even know where he is right now," Rose said. "He may not even be here."

Andy snorted into his cup. "Sure," he said sarcastically. "The day Scorpius Malfoy, the most popular guy in Slytherin, misses an all school party, will be the day that Alice hexes someone for accidently bumping into her in the hall."

Rose glared at her friend and was about to say something back in return, when she was surprised by a large crash from behind her. Rose and her friends all turned their heads to gape in astonishment at James, who was currently snogging Shasta Kincaid very publically on top of one of the common room tables.

Rose gaped at her cousin as several wolf whistles from a few members of the crowd surrounding the table began to make her ears ring painfully. When James finally let go of a visibly embarrassed Shasta, Rose couldn't help but laugh at the punch drunk look on James' face.

"This," James said with a pause as he pointed towards Shasta, "is my girlfriend and I plan to one day marry this girl and have loads of kids with her," he declared. Shasta appeared to be trying to decide on whether or not she was mortified or pleased by his declaration, since her eyes kept roaming between him and jumping from the table to hide. "This means," James continued loudly. "That I, the James Potter, am now a one woman man for the rest of my life."

Al snorted loudly from beside Rose and several girls in the crowd began to protest loudly at James' news.

"I know, I know ladies," James replied soothingly. "It is hard to hear but it is the truth. It is my plan to end my career at Hogwarts with a girlfriend and there is nothing anyone can do about it." Rose watched in amusement as James grabbed a thoroughly disgruntled looking Shasta by the hand before he jumped from the table he was standing on to the floor below.

"It won't last," Al said with a shake of his head. "Shasta isn't his type."

"James has a type?" Alice questioned.

"Ya," David replied. "I swear he just gets with any girl that's even the slightest bit of a challenge."

"Right-o my friend," Al replied with a grin. "His new challenge is having a girlfriend whose core beliefs are completely parallel to his. That's why it won't last."

"Are you sure?" Alice replied. "He seems pretty dedicated to her."

"Oh he's dedicated to her alright," Al replied, "but I highly doubt she's dedicated to him."

"I'd listen to him," Andy said with a smirk. "James is his brother after all."

Rose was well aware that her friends had completely forgotten that they were talking about her and she silently thanked James a million times for just being himself. When she was sure none of them were watching her, Rose slowly got up from her seat and quickly shuffled away from the group; her horrible drink forgotten. Rose swiftly pushed her way through the throng of people on the dance floor towards the direction of the balcony. She needed fresh air desperately and maybe she could come up with a good enough excuse for why she was never going to talk to Malfoy, since apparently keeping her dignity intact was not a good enough reason these days.

With one last final push, Rose managed to make her way out of the packed crowd and through as set of glass doors onto the balcony that was connected to the Gryffindor common room. Rose took a deep breath of the outdoor air that surrounded her. It was a bit colder that night then what the end of June in Scotland usually had to offer and Rose was thankful that she had decided to wear a cardigan over the Gryffindor t-shirt she was wearing.

Luckily, she was the only one out on the balcony, since it was too early in the night for any drunken couples to be making forays out onto the balcony to hook up under the stars. Rose rolled her eyes over how silly that sounded. She desperately hoped that the bloke that she ended up with would never think that taking her out onto a starlit balcony would lead to her being up for anything. Over all, she was thankful for the alone time.

"Lovely night isn't it?" a familiar voice said from behind her and Rose's body visibly flinched at the sound of Malfoy's voice. Rose massaged her forehead to try and alleviate some of the built up irritation that had made a home inside of her mind.

"Ya... it's lovely," Rose replied sarcastically without turning around to look at Malfoy.

"Do you mind if I stay out here?" Malfoy asked politely.

Rose desperately wanted to tell him to get lost but she knew she didn't have a good enough reason to do so. "Sure," Rose said with a sigh as she gestured to the spot next to her. "Be my guest."

Malfoy seemed to hesitate over what he should do because it took him awhile to make his way over to the spot next to Rose on the balcony. "I need to talk to you," he said in a serious voice and Rose couldn't help but frown. Rose was almost ready to bet a few galleons on the idea that Scorpius and Nora talked to each other via telepathy, because there had to be no way he suddenly had the urge to come talk to her after she had just run away from the friends who were trying to make her talk to him in the first place.

"Really," Rose said with a hint of resentment. "Because the last time we had a chat we were both tied up on the top of the bloody astronomy tower fighting for our lives."

"I understand why you're not happy with me right now," Scorpius replied, "but it's not like you've tried to talk to me either."

"Excuse me," Rose spluttered, turning her head to look at him for the first time in a very long time. "Last time I checked, I was the one who got launched into a wall by a blasting curse."

Rose watched as Scorpius' face darkened considerably and she instantly wished she could eat her words.

"If you were going to regret pushing me out of the way so much, why did you do it?" Scorpius asked darkly.

Rose just stared at Scorpius. She could no longer see any sign of the horrible bruise that had been gracing the right side of his face for weeks and she couldn't tell what had become of the gash on the side of his head. But the one thing that seemed to stand out the most about him was the fact that his usual emotionless mask seemed to have disappeared and in its place was the face of a young man who had never looked more confused in his entire life.

Cut him some slack Rose.

Rose pushed back her pride and stared at Scorpius. "I'm sorry, Malfoy but I can honestly say that I have no idea why I pushed you out of the way of Darius' curse. I guess it was instinct or something, but I promise you that I don't regret keeping you from getting hit," Rose replied as honestly as she could. "I am a Weasley after all. It's in my blood to perform stupid self sacrificing acts of bravery on a whim."

Scorpius laughed slightly at her comment before becoming serious again; his eyes fixed on something in the distance.

"Malfoy?" Rose questioned worriedly.

"Thanks," Scorpius said in a gruff voice, turning his head to look at Rose.

"Thanks for what?" Rose asked in confusion.

"For being yourself and saving my ass," Scorpius replied with a half smile.

Rose felt a blush beginning to creep its way onto her cheeks as she searched for the right words to say. "You're welcome."

Scorpius nodded his head happily at her response and his half smile transformed into an actual smile. Rose was taken aback. Malfoy was acting like a completely different person and Rose wasn't quite sure what to think of it. Here he was smiling like she had just told him he'd won a free vacation to Costa Rica and all she had said was 'you're welcome'. It wasn't like she minded the smile, since he was rather attractive when he didn't look like he was witnessing the end of the world. Wait... what?

Scorpius didn't seem to notice the confused look on Rose's face because he continued to gain confidence as he spoke to Rose. "Nora finally convinced me to come talk to you yesterday," Scorpius admitted.

"Did she?" Rose replied in a cynical voice. "Remind me to thank her."

Scorpius chuckled at her response. "I also have this idea that would really benefit the both of us in the long run."

"What kind of idea," Rose asked curiously.

"The kind of idea that involves the two of us becoming friends," Scorpius said in a slightly uncertain voice.

Rose's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"We should become friends," Scorpius offered again. "Or at least we should be civil towards one another. Especially since we're both friends with Nora and she's going to need the both of us if things start going bad for her."

"Friends," Rose repeated in a distant voice. Why didn't she like that word when it came from Scorpius' mouth? She could honestly never imagine the two of them discussing their classes or laughing at something one of the Grenning twin's had done earlier that day like she did with Al, David or Andy. It just didn't seem to fit inside her mind. Not to mention, this new friendlier version of Scorpius was a far cry from the bloke she had been fighting with in the hallway only moments before Darius had ambushed them. Rose remembered the look of absolute confusion on his face and the way he had grabbed a hold of her like it had only happened hours before. Rose especially remembered the pleading sound to his voice when it looked like he was about kiss her.

A whole flood of emotions suddenly came crashing down upon Rose and she found herself sinking to the floor from mental exhaustion.

"Rose," Scorpius said worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Rose mentally shuddered at the way he said her name. Every time he said it, it made goose bumps appear all across her body and she couldn't help but enjoy every moment of it.

What the hell was going on? Rose had barely registered that Scorpius was now sitting next to her, continually asking her if she was alright. Every memory from that year alone was coming back to her like waves. Each and every time Scorpius looked apologetic for saying something horrible about her, when he seemed jealous about her being around Darren and the few times where it had looked like he had been about to kiss her, began to appear to her in a different light. Instead of seeing Scorpius' supposed interest in her and the jealousy he felt towards any of the guys who got near her, she was seeing everything the way she should have seen it in the first place.

She was seeing things from her own perspective.

"Oh," Rose breathed in astonishment.

She had loved the attention Scorpius had given her when he had approached her when she was alone, she had been hurt horribly whenever he had insulted her and she had wanted him to kiss her. Merlin's beard, how she had wanted it. Not to mention, she now knew exactly why she had saved Scorpius from getting hit by that blasting curse. She had done it because she genuinely cared about his safety and because she really had no idea what kind of spell was going to come out of that wand at the time.

"Oh what, Rose?" Scorpius asked.

Rose blinked in response. The only logical explanation for all of the things she had felt and done was because of one thing.

Rose Weasley fancied Scorpius Malfoy.

It all made sense now. Everything Nora had been telling her had been true. No matter how infuriating he could be, Rose had somewhere along the way, fallen for Scorpius... and she had fallen hard.

"Nothing," Rose replied shakily.

"Are you sure? You don't look so good."

Rose laughed in a slightly hysterical voice at his comment. Of course she didn't look good. She had just realized that she fancied Scorpius Malfoy for probably her entire sixth year and beyond.

"If you don't want to be friends, we can just be civil with each other," Scorpius suggested and Rose could hear the disappointment in his voice like a set of ringing bells.

"Civil," Rose said with a slight shake of her head as she slowly got to her feet. "I guess I'll think about it and then... then I'll get back to you." Rose knew she was panicking. She only had to stare at the look of discontent on Scorpius' face to know that he liked her too. How could she have been so stupid! It had been staring her in the face for months. He wasn't trying to kiss her just to play with her emotions. He genuinely wanted to kiss her and, knowing men, do other things with her as well.

"You'll... get back to me?" Scorpius questioned in confusion.

Rose backed away from Scorpius, positioning herself in the best possible location to be able to run for it when she needed to the most. "Yes," she nodded indecisively, well aware that she sounded like she was going crazy.

Rose's heart broke over the hurt expression on Scorpius' face. What are you doing you git? You just realized you fancy this bloke. You should be telling him how you feel, not running away.

"I can't," Rose whispered to herself but Scorpius still heard her.

"You can't what?" he asked in frustration.

Rose backed up even closer to the balconies exit. "I- I have to...," Rose stammered as she stared at Scorpius. Her eyes connected with his for only a second and her stomach churned pleasantly at the sight in front of her. That was when Rose snapped. "I have to go now." Before Scorpius could even open his mouth to say anything back to her, Rose pivoted on her heel and rushed into the crowded room in front of her; silently praying that the hordes of people around her would cover her escape.

What are you doing? Go back! Go back now before you can't.

But she couldn't and before she knew it she had stumbled out of the Gryffindor portrait hole and into a dark empty hallway. Rose hurried down the hallway and rounded a corner, only to collapse to her knees in an alcove where she was sure she was hidden from the world.

How had this happened? Exactly when in her life did she inadvertently throw all reason to the wind and decide to fall for Scorpius Malfoy of all people? Rose shuffled around on her knees to face the wall behind her and she began to bang her head lightly against the wall in frustration.

Was she overreacting? She didn't really think so. After all, if her father found out about this, he would probably track down Malfoy and kill him, and Rose really didn't want that.

But wasn't that the only problem? Aside from the fact that Scorpius had a girlfriend, there really was nothing stopping her from liking him. However, she was still terrified of the idea. What would her family think and what about Scorpius' roller coaster mood swings. Sure, he had been pleasant and nice to her just now, but most of the time he walked around the castle like someone who had just watched a friend die and Rose wasn't quite sure she could handle that.

Rose sighed heavily and got to her feet. She could think more about this later. Right now she needed to get back to the party before someone came looking for her and started asking questions. After all, she would probably see Scorpius again over the summer, since Nora was now living with her, and she could possibly talk to him then. Possibly.

Rose walked out from her hiding place only to jump back in surprise upon seeing someone standing directly in front of her.

"Oh there you are," Zabini drawled in a bored voice. "I need to speak with you."

"Were you following me?" Rose asked in surprise, still standing a few steps back from the girl who was several inches taller than she was. Rose wasn't short, but Zabini had to at least have a good 4-5 inches on her and a horrible temper to go with the extra height.

Zabini flipped a section of her long black hair behind her shoulder and she stared coldly in Rose's direction. "Obviously. I wanted to talk to you earlier but you were engaged in a conversation with _my _boyfriend."

Rose gulped at the angry tone to Zabini's voice. "Why didn't you just cut in then? I really wouldn't have minded."

"This is something," Zabini said taking a step closer to Rose, "that Scorpius shouldn't hear and since you sped out of that room like a bat out of hell, I had no choice but to follow."

"Well," Rose said irritably. "What do you want to tell me that couldn't wait until another day?"

Zabini sighed wearily as she inspected her nails. "I know that Scorpius fancies you."

Rose's eyebrows shot up into her hairline at the news. "What?"

"He fancies you," Zabini replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I'm pretty sure you know it." Rose just stared at Zabini in shocked silence. Zabini nodded with a scowl on her face. "I'll take that as a yes."

"But-," Rose stammered. "But aren't you furious."

"I was a little at first," Zabini admitted dryly. "To be compared to you is horrible for any girl." Rose shot Zabini a dark look. "So what changed your mind," Rose replied through gritted teeth.

Zabini's mouth morphed into a sly smile. "Because I realized that Scorpius will always do what he's told."

Rose stared at Zabini in confusion. "I don't understand."

Zabini's smile grew larger at Rose's statement. "I knew he wouldn't tell you and I don't even think he's told the lovely Miss. Wilson either. So now I'm going to tell you what I wanted to tell you for quite some time." Zabini quickly closed the small distance in between the two of them with only a few steps, so that she was now standing directly in front of her. Zabini smiled sweetly down at Rose. "You can have all the fun in the world with him for the rest of our time at Hogwarts," Zabini replied in a warning tone. "Since all you really are to him is the thing he can never have."

"I haven't- what?" Rose replied in confusion

"You're something shiny," Zabini explained. "All boys love shiny things. Believe me, I know. And you're shiny because you are the daughter or Ronald and Hermione Weasley and he's the son of Draco Malfoy. You do the math. He wants you because you are the perfect thing to chase after. He could never have you, which means it's safe to want you."

Rose stared at Zabini in stunned silence. That made sense. Sure, Scorpius may like her but all he really liked about her was the fact that she was someone he could never get. "I haven't done anything with him," Rose replied in a cold voice.

"Sure," Zabini said sarcastically. "Not many can resist Scorpius. He looks almost angelic at times and girls go mad over that stuff. However, like I said before, do what you will with him during our seventh year," Zabini said before her expression suddenly turned threatening, "because once we are all done school, he's mine and you will be out of his life faster than I can give the order."

"I haven't done anything with him," Rose insisted frostily. "That's the truth. But I will really enjoy seeing what happens when that statement is a lie."

Zabini's eyes turned wild over Rose's words and Rose was pretty sure she was going to hit her, but Zabini seemed to think twice and backed off a few steps. "Just remember," Zabini said frigidly. "No matter what you do with him... he's always going to be mine. Have a lovely night."

Rose watched as Zabini flipped her hair dramatically and began to stalk off towards the Gryffindor common room. Rose, however, didn't move. She just stared into the never ending darkness in front of her. While she had no idea what Zabini meant by Scorpius being hers no matter what, she completely understood Zabini's theory about her being the one thing Scorpius couldn't have. She was right. Pretty much every guy loved the thrill of the chase.

A tear slipped from Rose's eyes and she hastily wiped it away. Well, she would never give Zabini the satisfaction of knowing that she had been right. She was, in no way, something for anyone to win and she would never share anyone with Tatiana Zabini of all people. Just like Zabini had said, it was horrible for Rose to even be compared with her.

So what was the solution to this entire mess? She would ignore it. She would never get back to Scorpius on the being friends issue because she would probably never be able to look at him again without getting the urge to punch him in the face. She would make sure to stay out of the house if he ever did come over to see Nora, which she guessed would be very little with her parents around and in those two months of being Scorpius free, Rose guessed that her feelings for him would eventually fade away and he would get sick of chasing after her. She was so stubborn that it would probably work. Problem solved.

Scorpius could have Zabini all he wanted, but he was never to going have her. "I'm no one's trophy," Rose whispered angrily to herself and she began her slow lonely walk back to the Gryffindor common room; trying in vain to fight back a stream of angry tears.

* * *

A/N- DONE! I can't believe that it is all finished *tear*. So how was that for a dramatic ending but do not worry I have already begun work on a sequel which I promise will have the same amount of drama (and maybe more) then its predecessor. The second book in my series will be called "Forbidden Thoughts' so look out for it since I will probably have the first chapter up in a week or so since it is done and I just need to fix it up a bit. Thank you to everyone who has posted a review. I adore you all :). Anyway please read and review and goodbye until next time.

_Update! Evolving Stakes' sequel Forbidden Thoughts is now up _

_Update #2 (June 27th 2010)- Today I found out that someone has decided to copy the first chapter of my story and make it their own, even posting it on this site under the same name. This is something I deem to be very very low. If this continues, I will take down my story. So please, to the person who is copying my story, stop._


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